For Byron Shire resident Brianna Pearl, witnessing the severe flooding in areas surrounding her beachside town has left her struggling to comprehend the destruction.
“To find the words is really challenging to be honest — it’s devastation,” she told SBS News.
“It’s like a war zone here at the moment.”
Byron resident Brianna Pearl says she's been devastated by the damage caused by flooding to her home town.
On Wednesday, Lismore, the Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley LGAs were declared the “highest-impacted” areas and offered additional disaster assistance payments.
It means they’re eligible for an extra $2,000 each in emergency support through the scheme to be made through payments on 15 and 22 March.
The announcement was made during a visit by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to the town of Lismore, one of those worst impacted by flooding.
Mr Morrison on Thursday suggested further financial assistance would be expanded in the coming days for other local councils in northern NSW.
"We're looking at other impacted areas in those districts to see how we might extend some of that support," he told reporters in Brisbane.
"As the damage assessments come in, you will add others to that list when you go through the proper process."
But Ms Pearl, having worked to help residents overwhelmed by the catastrophic conditions caused by the flooding, wonders why there’s been a delay.
“It's not fair how can you separate how people have been affected. We're all affected ... we all need help.”
“Everyone is affected. There's no scalability to that.”
Tweed Shire Mayor Chris Cherry — located further north of Byron — also said there was a sense of “shock” and “disbelief” her flood-hit council area was not included in the payments.
But she’s hopeful the decision is an “honest mistake” that will soon be corrected.
“The assessment process is slow — the scale of it — I believe that it's probably the case that all of the assessments aren't in for those other regions,” she said.
“I'm confident that the prime minister will see fit to announce that we are also included. The devastation here is incredible.”
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on Thursday said the emergency support decision was in the hands of the federal government.
"I’ve been out to all of these areas and yes there are some areas where there has been more damage and more suffering than others,” he told reporters in Lismore.
“That doesn’t mean in areas where there is not as much damage that they are not in need.”
He also announced a housing package for flood victims, which is estimated to support around 25,000 households.
It will be 50 per cent funded by the federal government and include 16 weeks rental assistance, including payments of $6,000 for single households and over $18,000 for larger families.
"It is a massive task in front of us - everyone can see that on the ground," he said.
Disaster Recovery Payments
Mr Morrison on Thursday said more than 400,000 disaster recovery payments totalling about $480 million had been paid to flood victims.
He has also issued an apology to victims of the flooding saying no amount of support from the federal government would be enough to compensate them.
Federal Labor MP Justine Elliot, whose Richmond electorate takes in Ballina and surrounding areas, said residents there had felt abandoned.
"People are suffering when we are not part of that announcement," she told ABC Radio on Thursday.
"Many people can't access housing or money and they need urgent assistance and they're just not getting it."
But Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has rejected claims parts of northern NSW were ignored by the government
Mr Joyce said decisions about which areas get funding were made by the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, based on the recommendations of the states.
"(The states) have the lead on this, they make the call that they want further support, and then the role of the federal government, after we negotiate that, is to (provide) support," he told ABC Radio.
The prime minister also spoke on the phone with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to discuss flood measures on Thursday, as Mr Morrison prepares to declare a national emergency.
The declaration will allow the government to cut through regulatory barriers to deploy resources to flood-impacted areas, including from the Australian Defence Force.
But when asked about the declaration, Ms Palaszczuk said it would be pointless because the immediate crisis had passed with state-based disaster declarations set to be shortly lifted.
"The time for that national emergency (declaration) was probably a week ago," Ms Palaszczuk told reporters on Thursday.
"So we've actually gone past that. The floodwaters have gone down, they've subsided.”
It's expected the national emergency will be declared on Friday, the first time such a declaration has been made since the laws came into effect in 2020 in the aftermath of the Black Summer bushfires.
Mr Morrison later on Thursday told reporters he had consulted with Ms Palaszczuk about the decision.
"We will be advancing those issues having undertaken the necessary consultations with the premiers of Queensland and New South Wales," he said.
