JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

DR ANNE WEBSTER MP
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR REGIONAL HEALTH
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

THE HON PETER DUTTON MP
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR DICKSON

Halls Gap businesses in limbo for tens to hundreds of $ thousands revenue lost due to bushfire

Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster and Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton MP say the Allan and Albanese Labor Governments have ignored the needs of the Halls Gap community with today’s federal Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements announcement.

“It’s almost three months now since Halls Gap small businesses were forced to close – for valid reasons – due to the threat of a bushfire.  However, the emergency management Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, particularly Category D, exist to help those severely and adversely affected by natural disaster events,” Dr Webster said.

“The Albanese and Allan Labor Government’s ‘too late she cried’ approach, after they flew over – and did not visit – Halls Gap, has seen businesses on the brink, if not going under.”

“$5,000 per business does not even scratch the sides of how much these businesses have lost during this agonising period of closure and anxiously waiting for support.”

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton was critical of the Prime Minister and Premier, saying: “Labor has let down the people of the Grampians and Halls Gap. Yes, the bushfires have passed, but their effects remain. The PM and the Premier did their fly-in/fly-out visit to Horsham months ago, but they have failed to assist the region in getting back on its feet.

“The insurance companies are on notice: they need to do better on affordability and availability of insurance. Insurance policy is another Labor mess that needs to be sorted out – and the Coalition will do precisely that.

“But importantly, the Allan Government and the Albanese Government are on notice too: they need to deliver for the people of Halls Gap and the Grampians because so far they’ve simply ignored the needs of the community at their time of need.

“It is a disgrace how little state and federal Labor have offered to small businesses in this iconic part of Australia as it gets back on its feet.

“The region needs a helping hand to get its businesses thriving again, turbocharging tourism and getting people visiting again. At the moment, all they are getting are tokenistic gestures and lip service from out of touch governments in Spring Street and in Canberra.  I will continue to raise this issue with the Prime Minister."

Dr Webster added that insurance has been a focal point of her advocacy federally after the fires: “The Albanese and Allan Labor Governments fail to understand the difficulty businesses have securing business interruption insurance. As I have been saying since the fires in January, and as Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton heard in Halls Gap when he visited on the ground, businesses either can’t get that kind of insurance or are having to go to great expense and effort to secure insurance from overseas.”

“Insurance costs have increased 33 per cent in 3 painful years under Labor and the miniscule amount offered by Labor today is severely insufficient for businesses who are so furious they can’t even talk.”

“The $100,000 announced today to promote the Grampians is welcome, as that is what Peter Dutton and I called for on the ground in Halls Gap and since the fires started. 

“I have to ask, though, what is the point of that funding if there are no businesses left to service those tourists, due to Labor throwing them into limbo?”

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