New $119 million recovery package in response to devastating 2023 monsoon

As monsoon season starts in the far north, it’s timely to remember the devastating monsoon and floods that hit northwest and central Queensland over a two-month period starting in November 2022.

This monsoon event was intense, widespread and prolonged, causing significant damage across large parts of Queensland.

The regional transport network across Gulf territory was particularly battered, further isolating what are already some of Queensland’s most remote communities.

The Australian and Queensland governments have announced a new $119 million recovery and resilience package to help communities impacted by the extreme 2023 monsoonal floods experienced across northern and central Queensland with long-term recovery.

While flooding was longer in the northwest, many Queensland communities were impacted by flooding throughout the 2022-23 wet season.

The $100 million Betterment Fund will rebuild infrastructure to a more resilient standard across all 45 impacted Local Government Areas (LGAs).

For more than a decade, Queensland Betterment Funds have demonstrated time and again that upfront investment in resilient infrastructure provides greater safeguards for communities and saves hundreds of millions of dollars in reconstruction works.

One of the great challenges for the northwest and Gulf regions was the months of isolation.  While people were safe, they were surrounded by floodwater and unable to leave their communities.

The $2.2 million Human and Social Recovery Package will support community recovery and resilience in Burke, Doomadgee and Carpentaria LGAs.

The northwest may be one of the most remote parts of Queensland, it is also environmentally one of the most beautiful and unique.

The $15 million Environment Recovery Package will enable the clean-up and recovery of waterways, biodiversity and invasive species management, and national park recovery in the localities of Boulia, Burke, Carpentaria, Cloncurry, Doomadgee, Mornington and Mount Isa.

The $1.4 million Economic Recovery Package will further assist these areas with tourism recovery and resilience investments, and livestock and grazing land recovery.