Two municipalities in Gippsland will receive extra money from the Federal Government to help rebuild infrastructure lost in the bushfires.
East Gippsland Shire Council and Wellington Shire Council will receive the funding through the National Bushfire Recovery Agency.
East Gippsland, as one of the most severely bushfire impacted councils, has already received $1 million and will get an extra $416,000. Wellington will receive a total of $275,000.
The additional money is coming from a pool of $17 million and brings the total amount allocated nationally to 60 local government areas hit by bushfires over spring and summer to $60 million.
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the extra money was on top of other Federal Government relief measures to help people who had been directly or indirectly impacted by the fires.
“The councils can use this extra money to replace or repair infrastructure, like roads, bridges and community facilities, that was destroyed or damaged,” Mr Chester said.
“It can also be used to re-build fences or host events to help bring together communities that have endured so much over the past few months.
“All levels of government, state agencies and the local community need to work together to help the communities impacted by fire to get back on their feet quickly.
“Much has been done already, but we need to do more to get Gippsland up and running again.
“We need to replace our lost infrastructure as quickly as possible so life can return to normal for both our residents and the business community and we can again provide the memorable visitor experience that Gippsland is known for.”
The National Bushfire Recovery Agency has made the funding allocation after considering a range of factors including population, disaster recovery payments already received, the area burnt and socio-economic factors of the municipality.
