Prime Minister Scott Morrison To Declare Queensland Floods A National Emergency

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised to declare the Queensland floods a national emergency amid calls for more funding.

The Prime Minister made the announcement despite Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying the proposal was too late.

“The time for that national emergency [announcement] was probably a week ago,” she said.

“So, we’ve actually gone past that, the flood waters have gone down, they’ve subsided.”

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Mr Morrison’s office said the declaration will allow the state government to provide more financial support to flood victims.

The Queensland Deputy Premier told ABC news that the Prime Minister’s offer has come too late with Queensland now in the “recovery” stage.

In conversations between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk said the disaster declaration was no longer necessary but if it were to go ahead, Queenslanders would expect extra financial support similar to that of certain areas of NSW.

Mr Morrison announce on Wednesday that some harder hit areas of NSW including Lismore, Richmond Valley and Clarence would receive double the funding with adults able to claim $2,000 and children able to claim $1,200 in disaster payments.

This announcement was widely criticised with nearby areas such as Byron Bay, Tweed and Ballina missing out on the extra funding.

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