Flood warning infrastructure gets $6M boost in Queensland

Communities impacted by the 2019 monsoon floods in Queensland are set to benefit from a $6 million investment in flood warning infrastructure.

Funding for the boost came from the joint state and federal Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements set up in response to the 2019 floods.

Initially $2 million was allocated to fund 36 flood warning projects across 16 heavily impacted areas.

Minister for Emergency Management David Littleproud said the additional funding was another important step towards a safer and more resilient north Queensland.

“This announcement will see more priority repairs and installations reach 28 impacted local government areas, from Torres Strait to Mackay,” Littleproud said.

“We want to better protect Queensland communities by ensuring they are well informed when there’s flood risk in their region.”

Queensland Treasurer and Minister responsible for the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) Cameron Dick said infrastructure investment was central to the Queensland Government’s COVID economic recovery plan.

“These initiatives bring employment benefits in the short-term and provide significant value in the long-term by protecting Queenslanders and their communities,” Dick said.

He said around 25 jobs are expected to be created in regional Queensland for this work.

“In the past 18 months our state has battled floods, bushfires, a pandemic, and the financial fallout from all those things. Investing in infrastructure like this flood warning network will keep driving our recovery efforts forward.”

Improvements will include rainfall and river level gauges, cameras and flood warning signage.

The 28 Queensland councils to benefit from this investment : Burke, Boulia, Burdekin, Carpentaria, Cairns, Cassowary, Charters Towers, Cloncurry, Cook, Croydon, Diamantina, Douglas, Etheridge, Flinders, Hinchinbrook, Lockhart River, Longreach, Mackay, Mapoon, Mareeba, McKinlay, Richmond, Pormpuraaw, Torres Strait, Townsville, Whitsunday, Winton and Wujal Wujal.

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