The National Recovery and Resilience Agency has ruled out reviewing grant applications for three recreation reserves at the heart of bushfire-affected eastern Victoria, raising questions about the effectiveness of the program.
During the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, locals under threat fled to refuges at recreation reserves in Sarsfield, Wairewa, and Ensay.
While there they faced isolation, power outages, and communications failures.
Two years later, the same volunteers who operated those refuges were gobsmacked to discover they missed out on bushfire recovery funding.
Other recreation reserves, such as Buchan, were simply out-competed.
Among the successful projects in Gippsland local government areas were a $7 million grant for flood levees in Seaspray, which was untouched by fire.
Among other projects funded in this round of grants were a nearly $10 million grant to upgrade the Bairnsdale airport, used during the fire response, and a $276,000 grant to rebuild the Mallacoota gun club, which was destroyed in the 2019-20 fires.
Ensay joins others in bid error
Community group Activating Ensay applied for $1.8 million to upgrade its facilities, including disability access ramps and lights to help the air ambulance land.
Their application was deemed ineligible because they applied under their committee's ABN which was listed as a committee of management for a state government entity.
Facilitator Kym Skews said Ensay was caught up in a mix-up.
"The committee of management's ABN is registered as a state government entity, this is a historical issue. The committee wasn't aware it was listed as a state government entity," Ms Skews said.
"It's a small group of volunteers to try and keep the rec reserve ticking over. We're devastated.
Bid followed royal commission recommendation
The final report by the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, commonly known as the Black Summer bushfires royal commission, recognised the role evacuation centres played in the fire response.
It recommended ensuring "the suitability of facilities to cater for diverse groups".
Ms Skews said that was part of their plans.
A National Recovery and Resilience Agency spokesperson said the grant process was now closed.
"All applicants must be treated fairly, equitably, and consistently, and the eligibility criteria cannot be waived under any circumstances," the spokesperson said.
"Applications that did not satisfy all eligibility criteria were not able to progress to the assessment stage or be considered for funding."
Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said he had written to his colleague and Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Bridget McKenzie, asking for the grant applications to be reconsidered.
"We have community groups who are volunteers, who have been traumatised by fire, who have filled in these forms in great detail with fantastic projects to improve their communities, and they weren't told on day one that a bureaucrat somewhere in Canberra had thrown their application in the bin," he said.
Editor's note (February 24, 2022): An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect amount for a funding grant.
