Government's $50m fund to mitigate bushfires, natural disasters, untouched at end of financial year

An annual fund worth $50 million, to be used to lessen the impact of natural disasters, remains untouched by the Federal Government on the last day of the financial year. Key points: The $50 million natural disaster mitigation fund was set up this year but has not been put to use Labor says it is "negligent" that the money has not been used to prepare for disasters The Government says it has been using other funds to achieve the same purpose. "The Government, in conjunction with state and territory governments, recently confirmed the investment of over $260 million over five years from 2019–20 to deliver disaster risk reduction initiatives at the national, state and local levels through the National Partnership Agreement on Disaster Risk Reduction," the statement said. "While the fund is not intended to be drawn on every severe weather season, nor is it the Australian Government's sole avenue to support disaster resilience and risk reduction, the Government may choose to draw upon the fund if there is clear evidence that existing programs are insufficient," the statement said.