Mayor refuses to rule out flood buy-back cuts
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has refused to rule out funding cuts to Brisbane’s flood buy-back scheme.
Cr Quirk told today’s Brisbane City Council meeting his administration was committed to the scheme, but when asked whether funds would be cut he would not comment.
“I’m not going to speculate what might or might not be in the budget,” he said.
A record $10 million was set aside last year to fund the scheme which saw the council purchase 21 properties in the past year at 2010 pre-flood prices.
However 15 flood-damaged properties approved for the buy-back are yet to be purchased.
Cr Quirk said the public would have to wait until the release of the July budget to see how much funding the scheme would receive.
“The buy-back scheme will continue to exist,” he said. “Budget day will see the details.”