00:00in just the other air conditioning units on concrete slabs.
00:04John Roberts has spent a lot of time and money flood-proofing his Rochester home after it
00:09went under in the 2022 floods.
00:12Everything had to be ripped out, everything had to be gutted.
00:15But the state government has decided landholders, like John, will be personally left to foot
00:20the bill.
00:21The Victorian Parliamentary Flood Inquiry has recommended the state government pay to
00:25retrofit or raise homes in flood-prone areas, matching similar programs in New South Wales
00:31and Queensland.
00:33But the government's response to the inquiry was quietly posted on its website three weeks
00:37ago, and that recommendation was rejected.
00:40I'm just dumbfounded.
00:43Tracey Kine and other Rochester residents gave evidence to the inquiry, but none were
00:48told the findings had been published.
00:50It was almost shoved under a carpet, let's hope they don't see it, and we had to find
00:56that for ourselves.
00:58But even more galling were the contents of a letter from the Federal Emergency Management
01:02Minister, which said while more than a billion dollars in co-funding had been made available
01:07for flood recovery, the Victorian government had not applied to establish a resilient homes
01:12program.
01:13I find that really hard to swallow because we need that.
01:19The Premier won't reveal why the government didn't apply, saying help will be provided
01:24through better planning.
01:25Whether it's through designing new homes, looking at how we can build resilience.
01:30But the Natural Disaster Recovery Minister confirmed the government doesn't support public
01:34spending on private flood mitigation.
01:37So this is my lantern, come and focus.
01:38It's added to the pain felt by Madeline Searle, whose home in Melbourne's inner west is still
01:43a hollow shell.
01:45She says compared to Queensland and New South Wales, the Victorian response is pathetic.
01:50Victoria is just so behind, they're just prepared to let people just languish without any functional
01:58assistance.
02:00Those who lived through the floods want more to be done to future-proof the state.
02:04It's like we're going to throw all this money to help clean it up, which is great, but we're
02:09going to do nothing to help you prevent it and mitigate it in the future.
02:12It's just such a short-sighted view.
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