The Federal and Queensland Governments have reached a new cost-saving agreement that will enable councils to choose the option of using their own workforce to complete disaster reconstruction projects.

 

Minister for State Development Jeff Seeney said the agreement, reached with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority and Commonwealth representatives, will deliver better value-for-money and more timely and better quality outcomes.

 

Mr Seeney said the new agreement would save councils considerable sums of money and was a critical step forward to ensure value-for-money was achieved in the use of taxpayer funds for reconstruction projects. 

 

“Many councils felt disadvantaged under existing National Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) guidelines, which did not allow them to claim the cost of using their internal workforce, even in instances where it was the cheaper and faster option. 

“This new agreement is clearly a common-sense approach that will lead to massive savings.” 

Mr Seeney said Councils would need to demonstrate they could deliver projects more efficiently and cost effectively using their own workers and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority would use its value-for-money checking process to ensure the savings were being delivered. 

“Getting this proposal up has been a team effort and I would like to acknowledge the close involvement and assistance of the Local Government Association of Queensland and also the numerous local councils who wrote to the Commonwealth outlining their individual circumstances and supporting the Queensland Government’s proposal,” he said. 

“The Queensland Reconstruction Authority will now work with the Commonwealth to finalise the details of the new arrangements so councils can incorporate them in their reconstruction planning as quickly as possible.”