KATHERINE will receive $25 million to combat the impact of future flood events if the Northern Territory government proceeds with the controversial sale of TIO.
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As the government continues to liaise with potential buyers of the insurer, Member for Katherine Willem Westra van Holthe held a public forum with TIO chief executive officer Richard Harding on November 13 to outline to residents what the sale would mean for them and premium prices.
The government has stated that the costs of policies in Katherine will rise “no matter what”, because of flood mapping now being used to assess the risk to individual properties.
Mr Westra van Holthe admitted he had his own concerns about the sale, adding that he would not be supporting it if he was not “convinced that this is for the benefit of all Territorians”.
The Member for Katherine also announced the town would get a $20m benefit from the sale, which would be used to relocate the St John Ambulance NT facility to the existing Stuart Highway emergency services precinct and “get possibly a levee” as a flood mitigation measure.
However, as the government scrambles for public support on the TIO sale, Chief Minister Adam Giles said only four days later that the figure would actually be $25m.
Mr Giles told the Katherine Times the amount was a figure the government believed would “provide suitable value for flood mitigation” but hinted further funding could be available.
“It’s not a hard and fast figure,” he said on Monday.
“If it costs a little bit less or little bit more, we’ll do that.”
Member for Nelson Gerry Wood has been a vocal opponent of the plan to offload TIO and said he was concerned the sale would go ahead, despite the lack of public support, to save the government from being embarrassed .
“What worries me is that they might go ahead regardless, just so they don’t have egg on their face, but I’d prefer they have egg on their face and just drop this whole idea for the time being,” he said.
“If they have a really good argument, put it out to the people at the next election.”
Katherine endured its last flood in 2006 and several community members, including Katherine Town Council mayor Fay Miller, have posed the question of whether or not $25m will be enough to effectively mitigate flooding.
“I want to see the plans they have in place, because for that amount of money to mitigate Katherine, someone will be flooded very badly,” Alderman Miller said.
In addition, the Katherine mayor said she was not convinced levees would work.
“After living through that 1998 flood, I can’t see anything that’s going to mitigate flooding [in Katherine],” she said.
“I just don’t see how it will work.
“I’m open to any ideas they put forward to me, but I can tell you now it’s going to have to be damn good to have me jumping up and down with excitement.”
What people are saying about the TIO sale and flood mitigation for Katherine
Chief Minister Adam Giles: “[$25 million is] not a percentage, it’s what we think we will provide suitable value for flood mitigation. It’s not a hard and fast figure. If it costs a little bit less or little bit more, we’ll do that.”
Shadow Minister for Government Accountability Natasha Fyles: “The CLP Member for Katherine, Willem Westra van Holthe, is the only CLP member to have held a forum for constituents and even he is concerned about the sale of TIO.”
Katherine Town Council mayor Fay Miller: “I am not impressed with the idea of having levees in Katherine. I want to see the plans they have in place, because for that amount of money to mitigate Katherine, someone will be flooded very badly.”
Member for Nelson Gerry Wood: “If they have a really good argument [for the sale of TIO], put it out to the people at the next election.”