The Prime Minister is to declare catastrophic flooding in northern NSW a national emergency, triggering a federal intervention response and providing additional resources.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to declare a national emergency in response to devastating flooding in northern NSW.
Takeaway: Scott Morrison to visit flooded areas of NSW today, announce more federal support
Scott Morrison will visit flooded parts of NSW today to announce further government support. National emergency declaration will trigger federal intervention
National declaration of emergency will trigger federal intervention NSW government has yet to declare a state of emergency
The statement gives the federal government the power to intervene and deploy funds.
This is the legislative power Mr Morrison has sought in the wake of the 2019-20 bushfire crisis.
Mr Morrison will also outline more funding to help communities recover from flooding on the east coast during a visit to Lismore today, as government ministers expect outrage from residents whose lives have been turned upside down.
The federal government has been criticized for the speed and scale of its response to the floods.
The amount of the funding is unclear, but was approved by the federal government's spending review committee yesterday and has been described as significant.
Senior administration officials, including the Treasury secretary, have estimated billions of dollars in recovery costs.
Murray Watt (right) called on the government to declare a national emergency. (Facebook: Murray Watts)
Shadow minister for disaster and emergency funding Murray Watt said federal funding for flood recovery needed to be generous and reflect the extent of the damage.
"If he shows up with a few hundred million dollars or so, it's not going to work," Senator Watt said.
Senator Watt today backed a national declaration of emergency and said the NSW government was overwhelmed by the disaster.
However, the NSW government has yet to declare a state of emergency - NSW Premier Dominic Perot yesterday said it was not necessary.
"The advice we've received is that it's not necessary at this stage, we're discussing it every day," Mr Perrot said.
"We trust our coordination between the federal and state and across all our agencies to handle the situation before us."
NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York yesterday agreed there was no need to declare a state of emergency at this stage.
But the Prime Minister's Office insists on extending the state of emergency until December
