CARNARVON FLOODS — TOPSOIL REPLACEMENT
641. Hon NEIL THOMSON to the Minister for Regional
Development:
My question is regarding the topsoil
reinstatement package for those affected by the floods in Carnarvon in 2021.
(1) How much has the state
provisioned for the program?
(2) What component of (1) has been
spent to date?
(3) Of the component spent thus far,
how much has been spent on —
(a) administration;
(b) contractor services to source and
distribute topsoil; and
(c) direct payments to growers?
(4) How many cubic metres of topsoil
has been moved onto grower properties to date?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1) The McGowan
government committed $1 million to support growers in Carnarvon impacted by the
2021 floods and to plan to mitigate flood risk in the future. That was the
package that we put forward.
(2) Excluding GST, $535 793.30 has
been spent directly on soil replacement.
(3) Of that
component spent thus far —
(a) one FTE was
funded to support the delivery of the commitment, of which soil replacement was
one component;
(b) there has
been $494 073.30 spent on contractor services to source and distribute the
topsoil; and
(c) a voucher
program contributed to the cost of spreading the soil by contractors or
businesses and the value of these vouchers was $41 720.
(4) The total
amount of topsoil that has been moved is 12 338 cubic metres. The remainder of
the funds are being used in a variety of ways to assist growers in flood mitigation,
including contributing $240 000 to secure $1.3 million of federal grant funding
for flooding preparedness.