Photo caption: Flooding devastated Moree over the weekend, with dozens of homes inundated by water. Pictured is the Moree Scout Hall which went under water.
Devastating flooding continues
Flooding continues across the Parkes electorate, with all the river systems across the electorate now in flood. My thoughts are with those communities impacted as they begin the clean-up and recovery effort.
In the meantime, the Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA) has been made available to people in the Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Cobar, Coonamble, Dubbo, Gilgandra, Gunnedah, Gwydir, Lachlan, Moree Plains, Narrabri, Narromine, Walgett, Warren and Warrumbungle Local Government Areas. The DRA is a short-term payment to help people who have lost income as a result of flooding that started in September.
For information on eligibility and how to apply, visit the Services Australia website.
Faster internet for parts of Moree
Homes and businesses in Moree are among another 300,000 premises across the country that will be eligible for ultra-fast broadband by the end of 2023.
NBN Co last week announced this new tranche of areas, which means a total of two million premises in Australia currently served by Fibre to the Node (FTTN) will become eligible to upgrade to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP).
This is great news for Moree households and businesses and means they will be able to access NBN Co’s fastest internet plans of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), on demand by 2023. This will help to create jobs in the community, ensure local businesses can access the speeds they need to thrive, and improve connectivity for families in the entire region.
Thanks to the former Coalition Government’s upgrade of the NBN, which included a $4.5 billion investment in 2020, the NBN is on track to enable up to eight million premises across Australia to access ultra-fast broadband, speeds of 500 Mbps to close to 1 Gbps, by the end of 2023.
Supporting local music festivals
I encourage organisers of music festivals in the Parkes electorate to apply now for funding to help put on their event in 2023, under Round 5 of the Live Music Australia program.
Grants of between $5,000 and $100,000 are available for activities that support local festivals, whether it is for small upgrades, promotion, professional development, administrative costs or to purchase equipment.
A number of pubs in the Parkes electorate have had success under previous rounds of the Live Music Australia program, which have focussed on supporting live music venues to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applications for Round 5 close at 11.30pm on Thursday 17 November. To apply and for more information, visit: www.arts.gov.au/funding-and-support/live-music-australia
Innovate with NBN grants
Applications are now open for the latest round of the Innovate with NBN Grants Program, and I encourage individuals, businesses and organisations in the Parkes electorate to apply to take their technology-led ideas to the next level.
Grants worth $15,000 are available to the winners of seven categories – Women in Regional Business, Health, Arts, Education, Agriculture,
Tourism and Indigenous Business – with the overall champion to receive $20,000.
These grants will support innovators and entrepreneurs to deliver game-changing projects that will enhance the digital capabilities of communities and businesses powered by access to the National Broadband Network.
Applications close at midnight on Sunday 20 November. For more information on the program and to apply for a grant: www.nbnco.com.au/campaigns/innovate-with-nbn-grants-program.
