Country Mayors Association of NSW (CMA) Board and its 89 remote, rural and regional member Councils has slammed the Federal Government’s proposed changes to the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) which would result in the Government to substantially reducing the financial contribution it makes to disasters that occur in NSW.

Chairman of CMA, Mayor Rick Firman OAM (of Temora Shire) said “it is totally unacceptable that the Federal Government is going to shift more of the burden for disaster recovery onto the NSW State Government and Local Government. So many of the natural disasters that occur in NSW happen in the communities that our Member Councils represent. I can say without reservation they are in no position to pick up more of the financial responsibility just because the Federal Government thinks it is okay to walk away from its responsibilities.”

The Federal Government recently announced that it was considering implementing 50/50 funding for natural disasters across all states. In NSW the Commonwealth typically contributes 65 per cent which will leave NSW millions of dollars behind in funding. The announcement comes on the back of the Colvin Review of Commonwealth Disaster Funding. While the Review did not recommend the proposed funding change, the Federal Government has attempted to justify the funding reduction on the back of the Review.

“The proposal is all the more galling because the NSW State Government does not receive its fair share of the GST. Expecting that NSW State and Local Government have the financial capacity to pick up more of the tab for disaster recovery, is just not on, especially given that the financial sustainability of Local Government is the CMA’s number one issue,” Mayor Firman said.

“The CMA will be joining with ALGA, LGNSW and the NSW State Government to vehemently oppose the proposed change. Disaster recovery is expensive, councils receive just three cents out of every dollar of national taxation, while the Federal government collects 80 cents of every dollar, it is fitting therefore that the Federal Government carries the majority of the funding burden,” Mayor Firman said.