News

| March 13, 2025

Bushfire support too little, too late

The Allan Labor Government has denied businesses impacted by the Grampians fires the level of financial support they desperately need and deserve.

More than 12 weeks after the Grampians fire started and after countless pleas for help, the Allan Labor Government and federal Labor government have finally announced that affected small businesses will receive $5000 each in assistance. However these grants are only half of what businesses affected by previous fires have been eligible for.

The Nationals’ Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy, said the support had been far too long coming, and did not go far enough.

“The Grampians fire forced businesses to stop trading for weeks during peak tourism season. Even since businesses were able to reopen, trade has been far down on normal levels, leaving some businesses at breaking point,” she said.

“The Allan Labor Government should have immediately used every mechanism available to help support the community, but instead they waited months to even apply to the federal government to release natural disaster assistance.

“The Premier and Labor minister have not even bothered to meet with firefighters or affected communities.

“While our local communities are amazing at supporting each other and will do everything they can to keep these wonderful businesses afloat, we have seen that local dollars alone will not be enough.

“Businesses that have been decimated during their busiest time of year needed substantial financial assistance and should have been able to count on the government in their time of need, but Labor’s support package falls well short.”