The Informer: Flood emergency finally declared but alas, is no magic wand

Despite the incredibly tumultuous times, this is the first time a national emergency has been declared amid a natural disaster since new laws passed in December 2020.

It's taken more than a week for the Prime Ministerial call to come but did indeed - in flood-wracked Lismore today.

PM Scott Morrison, who declared the floods in the Northern Rivers region "a one-in-500-year event", said the government would dip into its $4.8 billion emergency response fund to help pay for the initiatives, having previously resisted pressure from Labor to do so.

You can read the details of what the financial plan entails here or the dot-point version here.

Beyond the immediate recovery mission - which includes legal assistance services and long-term mental health support - is a commitment to flood mitigation work and ... support for hydrology studies.

Already one mayor, not from the state's north, has warned his community to "manage their expectations".

Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill said: "We could be looking at a figure greater than $100 million to repair and future-proof the city."

"Projects we are working on, which are 'nice to have' things, will potentially be delayed while we focus on repairing the basics. That is inescapable. Any politician that tells you there is a magic wand is lying. There isn't."

A wand of a different sort will be waved in Queensland as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the disaster and the government's response will be independently probed by Disaster Management Queensland.

Seventeen Queensland local governments have declared disasters and Prime Minister Scott Morrison will meet with the premier on Thursday to discuss declaring the floods as a national emergency, which would streamline Commonwealth support.

The last word for today goes to Mr Greenhill, the straight-talking Blue Mountains mayor: "We've got to get out there and say the honest thing: The climate is changing and our infrastructure that was built years ago, was never built with a contemplation in mind that we would confront weather events like this."

Seven days ago, ACM released details of our reader survey. Almost 52 per cent of readers put "environment and climate change" as the top issue in determining votes at the 2022 federal election.

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