Fresh support funding announced for bushfire recovery in Australia's Victoria
The premier of the Australian state of Victoria on Tuesday announced an additional 15 million Australian dollars (about 10 million U.S. dollars) in support funding for communities affected by the statewide bushfire crisis, Xinhua reported.
Premier Jacinta Allan said at a press conference in the central Victorian town of Alexandra that 10 million Australian dollars of the new funding package will go to a new bushfire clean-up program to help landowners deal with the wreckage of over 500 structures that have been destroyed across the state.
"This is particularly focused for uninsured and underinsured households who have lost their primary place of residence to be able to get underway with the clean-up," she said.
The remaining 5 million Australian dollars of the new funding will be spent waiving fees at landfills in affected areas to ensure that bushfire waste can be disposed of free of charge.
Twelve active fires were continuing to burn across Victoria as of Tuesday, down from 27 on Monday, and Allan said the situation has de-escalated.
Tim Wiebusch, Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner, said that six of those fires were still a concern to firefighting crews and that conditions are expected to become more severe in late January.
He said that the number of structures confirmed to have been destroyed by fires now exceeds 500, including 90 homes that were destroyed in the town of Longwood near Alexandra.
Wiebusch said that detectives from Victoria Police's arson squad are investigating the cause of the Longwood fire, which has burned through 144,000 hectares of land and has a perimeter of 400 km.
Earlier, it was reported Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan, on Sunday announced a 19.5 million Australian dollar (US$13 million) emergency funding package to provide immediate support to communities across the state affected by the fires. The funding includes 10 million Australian dollars to supply fodder to farmers who have been affected by significant livestock losses, 1.5 million Australian dollars in emergency accommodation support for thousands of people who have been ordered to evacuate their homes and one million Australian dollars for mental health support.
