Coalition faces criticism for limiting ‘top-up’ payment to Lismore flood victims only

The Morrison government is facing criticism for excluding flood victims outside Lismore from a new $350-a-week "top-up" paid to those unable to work.

The disaster recovery allowance is paid at the jobseeker rate of $642.70 a fortnight to those who are temporarily unable to earn an income.

The benefit is separate from the disaster recovery payment, which has been the subject of controversy after the Morrison government initially provided an extra $2,000 to flood victims in the National party-held areas Lismore, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley but excluded nearby areas held by Labor. That decision was later reversed after other areas were assessed, with the government arguing Lismore had been initially prioritised as it was worst hit by the disaster.

But last Friday the government quietly added a $350-a-week top-up payment to the disaster recovery allowance.

The top-up is now automatically added to the payments of disaster recovery allowance recipients who work or live in the Lismore local government area.

In a repeat of the situation that sparked fury last month, flood victims receiving disaster recovery allowance in other areas, such as those in the Labor-held seat of Richmond, are ineligible.

Because the top-up payment can be paid for a maximum of 13 weeks, those in Lismore could theoretically receive a total of $4,550 more than victims from other areas.

The federal National MP for Page, Kevin Hogan, had last week called for the disaster payments to be doubled.

But the decision to introduce the "top-up" payment was not publicised by the federal government. The only official announcement was an update on the Services Australia website.

Hogan has since labelled the decision to only include Lismore as "absurd", while NSW state Liberal MP Catherine Cusack said the latest announcement showed a "total lack of integrity in the commonwealth's funding approach".

Cusack, who intends to quit parliament over what she believes was the politicisation of NSW floods funding by the Morrison government, told Guardian Australia: "The whole northern rivers community would unite around the idea that funding should be according to need and not determined by where people live."

Last month, after fierce criticism from Cusack, Labor and others, the federal government added Ballina, Byron and Tweed to a list of areas eligible for an extra $2,000 in payments. Those areas are in the federal electorate of Richmond, held by Labor's Justine Elliot.

Elliot, who has accused the government of "pork-barrelling", said the decision to once again exclude her constituents was "appalling".

"What makes it even worse is they snuck it out a Friday afternoon, they didn't do a press conference," Elliot told Guardian Australia. "I first heard about it when I saw it on the Services Australia website. They were doing it really quietly."

"There are people here who desperately need the top-up. Of course Lismore desperately needs that, and we feel for them, but we're just as worthy," she said.

A joint press release issued on Tuesday by the federal and NSW government that outlined new flood support made no mention of the "top-up" payment.

"It seems unfair it's there for Lismore and not for us," Elliot said. "I think the fact they're trying to hide it shows they know that. These people have been through so much. Everyone in my community is really traumatised. People have lost their homes, their ability to work, because the business was flooded."

Mandy Nolan, who is running for the Greens in Richmond, said many people in the electorate "were unable to access their properties by car or couldn't leave their property because "it's impossible".

"These people have missed out on the support they need," she said. "I've been into some of these areas. They have to hike on a road by foot two hours on rope into their properties. They're the people who have really missed out. This recovery top-up would be so helpful."

Like Elliot, Nolan also believed the decision was politically motivated. "To cut out areas because they're not a safe National seat, which Lismore is, [is wrong]."

Because it is only the Lismore local government area that is eligible for the "top-up", it is likely some of Hogan's own constituents have also missed out on the extra support this time.

"This funding has been targeted using a one-in-500 year flood definition," Hogan told Guardian Australia. "The bureaucrats in Canberra (Australian Climate Service, National Recovery and Resilience Agency, and Bureau of Meteorology), somehow decided the one-in-500 year event only happened in Lismore.

"This is obviously absurd. I have told the minister the one-in-500 year definition needs to be expanded to other communities."

A National Recovery and Resilience Agency spokesperson said the government had made additional support available to those who live or work in Lismore "as it was the most significantly affected local government area based on the proportion of people and businesses directly impacted".

He said the top-up payment had been paid to 2,037 people, of the 16,485 people eligible for the disaster allowance in the 58 flood-affected local government areas in New South Wales.

Hogan and the emergency management and national recovery and resilience minister, Bridget McKenzie, were approached for comment.