CYCLONE RECOVERY PROGRESSING AND ONGOING

SIX months on from Cyclone Yasi cutting a devastating line across the Queensland coast, the rural industry recovery in Far North Queensland is ongoing but progressing well, the Queensland Farmers’ Federation said today.
QFF CEO Dan Galligan said that the six month anniversary of Cyclone Yasi was an event that all farmers would like to forget, but that the silver lining was that the recovery for most farmers was progressing at a good rate.
“For impacted farmers, it has been their most difficult six-month period since Cyclone Larry, and that was only five years earlier,” Mr Galligan said. “For Yasi, the clean-up and immediate recovery will last at least until the end of the year, and a full economic recovery will take much longer.”
He said the Industry Recovery Officer (IRO) program was proving its worth and had contacted about half of the 3000 farmers in the high impact Yasi region.
The IROs are part of a $1.7 million nine-month partnership between QFF, industry groups and the State Government and Federal Government.
“The IROs are essentially translators for farmers as they sift through the maze of assistance measures,” Mr Galligan said. “Their job is to get the recovery moving faster.”
Mr Galligan noted that it had also been a difficult and convoluted process for the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangement (NDRRA) assistance measures from government in 2011, which had reinforced the value of the IROs.
“The initial months especially were more difficult than they should have been or needed to be, although the process appears to be settling down to a better rhythm now.
“QFF and its members will continue to work with the Government to give feedback on the recovery and the assistance measures, and to ensure that all stakeholders are better prepared should Queensland confront similar disasters in the future.”