Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with Governor-General David Hurley on Friday evening to have the papers signed to formally declare New South Wales as being in a state of emergency due to the floods.
Governor-General Hurley visited Lismore with his wife on Friday.
"The grit and determination of residents, volunteers and all those involved in the recovery in flood affected communities is inspiring," he said in a post on Facebook.
The Prime Minister's Office has told SBS News Mr Morrison won't be pursuing a similar declaration for flood-hit communities of Queensland.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Thursday the state is moving now into recovery mode and the appropriate time for a "national emergency [declaration] was probably a week ago".
"So we've actually gone past that. The floodwaters have gone down, they've subsided, and ... those [state] disaster declarations will be lifted on Sunday."
The meeting to sign-off on the formal declaration is the first time such a measure has been taken using the legislation passed in December 2020, which was a response to the recommendations from the royal commission into the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20.
The first season was worst recorded in NSW, burning land covering 6.2 per cent of the state or 5.5 million hectares of land. Twenty-six people died and 2,448 homes destroyed.
Residents Tim Fry and Zara Coronakes and son Ezekiel Fry stand outside what is left of their home in Lismore on 11 March 2022. Source: AAP / AAP
Mr Morrison declared his intention to announce a state of emergency in New South Wales on Wednesday, after visiting Lismore, which is grappling with the aftermath of water levels reaching around 14.5 metres.
He said he is looking into extending financial assistance to communities surrounding Lismore — the Byron, Ballina and Tweed local government areas — after the federal government initially limited assistance to residents in the Lismore, Richmond and Clarence Valley local government areas.
Those eligible will have access to two extra payments, automatically paid for those who have already claimed and received the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment of $1,000 per adult and $400 per child. The additional payments total $2,000 for adults and $800 for kids.
NSW Flood Recovery Minister Steph Cooke said the state government is also making funds available to help households, small businesses, farmers and local councils begin the recovery process, and the unprecedented disaster required "equally unprecedented resources".
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the priority in the Northern Rivers was on the clean-up, housing for flood victims and financial support.
The government sent the first of 120 motorhomes to northern NSW on Friday after flooding destroyed thousands of homes.
NSW Rural Fire Service volunteers are driving the motorhomes from Sydney, and the first 20 are expected to arrive by Sunday.
Some 1200 flood victims have received emergency accommodation after 5,500 homes were assessed as damaged, about half of those uninhabitable.
The $10 million spent on motorhomes is part of a $551 million housing support package for 25,000 households, jointly funded by the state and federal government.
The package also includes funding for temporary housing and 16 weeks of rental support.
Some $90 million has been set aside for the clean-up across 28 local government areas.
Insurance claims reach $1.89 billion
The Insurance Council of Australia estimates 126,511 claims across Queensland and NSW would cost insurers $1.89 billion, however further claims are likely.
Claims have risen by more than seven per cent since Thursday.
Asked if he'd urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to declare the Northern Rivers region a natural disaster zone sooner, Mr Perrottet said it was "only relevant to co-ordination at a commonwealth level".
"In NSW, we set up our state emergency operation centre immediately," the premier told Nine.
Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese questioned why it was taking the prime minister "days and days into this disaster" to declare a national emergency.
"The parliament gave the prime minister and the government powers to do that after the experience of the bushfires," he told the ABC from Lismore on Friday.
Mr Albanese said flood-affected Ballina residents had told him they were traumatised and having difficulty accessing government support.
One of the six recovery centres established in the flood-hit Northern Rivers is in Ballina, and is supposed to provide access to multiple government agencies in one location to make it easier for flood victims to access support.
Additional reporting: AAP
