Frustration is high in the New South Wales government that a further round of flood disaster assistance has not yet been approved by the Commonwealth.
A funding package worth up to $1.4 billion has been developed by New South Wales, and the details were set to be announced on Wednesday.
However, no official announcement was made because Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is on a three-day trip to Western Australia, has not yet signed off on the package.
State government officials worked around the clock for several days to finalise the details, expecting it would be announced mid-week.
Most of the support package will be jointly paid for by the Commonwealth and NSW governments under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
The delay has prompted concern within the ranks of the NSW government and bureaucracy that Mr Morrison's campaigning in Perth has slowed the rollout of disaster recovery funding.
In a statement to the ABC, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said the federal government "hopes to finalise the details of the additional support very shortly".
"The NSW government's proposal documentation was received this morning by the National Recovery and Resilience Agency and is under urgent consideration by the Commonwealth government to ensure it meets both governments' objectives to deliver immediate and longer-term relief and support."
Further assistance includes home owner support
The ABC understands the latest funding package will include support for the 95,000 home owners affected by flooding, of which more than half are uninsured or underinsured.
Last week, the two governments announced joint funding worth $551.7 million, with the majority to be spent on temporary housing arrangements for people whose homes are now uninhabitable.
The ABC understands there was frustration in the New South Wales government about the handling of that announcement, too.
The federal government is providing Commonwealth Disaster Relief Payments of $1,000 per person and $400 per child to affected residents in 45 local government areas across NSW and Queensland.
Last week, the Prime Minister announced two additional relief payments covering the Lismore, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley local government areas.
That prompted anger from flood victims in the neighbouring Tweed, Byron and Ballina local government areas, who missed out on the extra support.The federal government has indicated it is reviewing whether additional support should be provided, but no decision has yet been made.
"We're looking at other impacted areas in those districts to see how we might extend that support," Mr Morrison said on Wednesday.
"I spoke to the Mayor of Ballina yesterday about those issues."
So far, the federal government has paid more than $567 million in disaster relief payments to more than 504,000 flood victims in NSW.
Around 4,000 defence force personnel are currently in northern NSW providing support in the clean-up and recovery effort.
