Scott Morrison will make a formal request for a national emergency with the Queensland Premier after devastating floods ravaged southeastern parts of the state and northern areas of NSW in recent weeks.
The prime minister will travel to Brisbane on Thursday after visiting flood ravaged Lismore and speaking with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet as the cleanup of monumental flooding continues.
One person is still missing and 13 people have died in the deluge that damaged thousands of homes, businesses and properties spanning from Wide Bay to the NSW border.
Seventeen Queensland local government areas have been declared disasters after the flooding peaked nine days ago, but Mr Morrison needs the request of the two premiers to get approval from the governor-general on Friday.
“I’ve had that positive discussion with the NSW premier and will be meeting with the Queensland premier tomorrow when in Brisbane,” he said on Wednesday.
Brisbane’s forecast still remains bleak with severe and damaging winds and heavy rainfalls through Wednesday into Thursday before easing in the morning.
Queensland MP Di Farmer said financial support is immediately available to affected homes and businesses through the government’s online portals.
“Primary producers, there are grants available of up to $75,000, for small businesses of up to $50,000 and the sporting clubs have up to $20,000,” she told reporters on Wednesday.
“We are asking people if they’re not sure whether they’re eligible to please just Google the Business Queensland website and we will have someone out to you and our people are on the ground with businesses – they will have someone out to you straight away.”
The grants will run until September and for businesses who may not be eligible, loans are available for working capital at $100,000 and $250,000 for business recovery.
There will also be an independent probe of the state government’s disaster response to the floods led by the Disaster Management Queensland group, Ms Palaszczuk said.
The premier said it would be completely independent and mirror previous reviews of natural disasters.
“So the public understand it. I’ve been very thorough about this and there will be a thorough review. It is independent and it gets tabled in the Queensland parliament,” she said.
© AAP 2022
