Mr Joyce told theHerald that residents should not be ordered off the floodplains but assisted to move through subsidies. However,this was the responsibility of state governments only,and he was “sick of this idea that every time there’s a problem that involves money it’s a federal government issue”.
It comes as NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts announced a review of development in flood-prone areas,including future housing projects and existing developments. It would be independent of government and completed within months,he told a budget estimates hearing on Friday.
But Labor and the Greens said that was cold comfort for people whose homes had been destroyed by the recent floods and needed certainty about whether they would be allowed to rebuild.
Mr Joyce,the federal Nationals leader,said his Lismore visit had not changed his perspective on climate change but was “a reaffirmation of what I was always thinking:OK,Australia has to deal with the reality we’re in,not the reality we wish for”.
“The effects of climate change are going to be with us. I get it,” he said. “This is managing for the reality of where we are,rather than somehow hoping that China and Russia and other nations get with the program. I’m a realist - they’re not going to.
“We’ve got to manage for the facts. This flood was 2.2 metres above the previous record flood. That’s not 10 centimetres,not 12 centimetres. It’s 2.2 metres.”
Asked about comments to theHerald last week by National Recovery and Resilience Agency boss Shane Stone - who that allowed them to do so - Mr Joyce said it would be better if they lived elsewhere,but they had to be assisted financially.
“People who buy houses in areas more likely to be flooded are not doing it because they had the money to build a house overlooking the harbour. This is a crucial element that we have to understand,” Mr Joyce said.
“The state government has to lead... They need to offer people the alternative,that people either take up or reject,to move to another area and make it affordable to do so.
“They can open up land,give a concessional rate for blocks and assist in a way that they think would encourage people to make that move. But that is a role for the state government.”
TheHerald previously revealed the NSW government was considering.
Mr Roberts told budget estimates on Friday he was not aware of those plans other than what theHerald had reported.
Few details of the floodplain building review were available on Friday,including who would lead it and whether there would be public hearings. Planning Department secretary Michael Cassel said NSW Chief Scientist Hugh Durrant-Whyte would be involved.
Deputy secretary Brett Whitworth said,in general,people who needed to rebuild would be able to do so,but building standards and the density of development in affected areas would need to be considered by the review.
Mr Roberts last week told theHerald “we can’t stop these people rebuilding” just because there might be a flood,especially when there was a housing crisis,but on Friday said he would not pre-empt the findings of the review.
He acknowledged what he called a “market failure” to provide enough housing in regional NSW when asked about Real Estate Institute data showing a 0.6 per cent vacancy rate in the Northern Rivers last year. The government’s new Regional Housing Strategy was imminent,he said.
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