Pastoralist hit by worst-ever WA flood says aid applications too onerous

Australia Broadcast Center

4 days ago

A pastoralist affected by Western Australia's worst-ever flood is calling for better access to government aid following a long and challenging application process.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie brought catastrophic flooding to the Fitzroy River in January 2023, tearing through Kimberley pastoral properties and destroying infrastructure.
Fourth-generation stockwoman Camille McClymont said she remembered seeing cattle being swept through a river that had swallowed the airstrip at her family's station, Kalyeeda, 220 kilometres south-east of Derby on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert.
"I've lived in the Kimberley my whole life, my dad's been here for most of his life, and we'd never seen floods like this," she said.
Workers hurried to move cattle, but the station lost several hundred head, along with fencing, trailers, a water tank, and the airstrip.
Recovery efforts were extensive and included hiring two additional workers to rebuild fences.
But, the most significant cost and highest priority, given the remoteness of the station, quickly became clear: building a new airstrip.
For this, the station was facing a bill of up to $80,000.
In the aftermath of the flood, the state government offered financial assistance to those affected through a range of programs and grants.
However, one of the first difficulties those at Kalyeeda faced was working out which grant they would be eligible for.
Then came the challenges of submitting the correct paperwork, meeting tight deadlines, waiting for approval, and navigating the ongoing back-and-forth with bureaucrats.
Ms McClymont said a staff member worked full-time just to apply for support.
"For a family-owned business, it made it hard because we had to keep operating … whilst waiting for that funding," she said.
"If we didn't have this lady who got us the grant through hard work, I don't know if we would have persevered with it because it was so time-consuming.
"There were definitely points when it looked like we weren't going to get it and if she hadn't persevered, we wouldn't have."
Despite the challenges of the application process, Ms McClymont said Kalyeeda was grateful to receive funding, which allowed it to build a new airstrip in October 2024.
But she hoped if similar situations arose in the future, pastoralists seeking government support would be better assisted.
About 50 pastoral leases were impacted by the floods in 2023, Minister for Agriculture and Food Jackie Jarvis told WA's parliament in June.
Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen's Association chief executive Bron Christensen said the consequences were "substantial", with some stations losing up to 1,000 head of cattle.
She said flood-affected pastoralists needed "a fair bit of dedication" to successfully apply for government grants.
"The feedback at the time was some of the application process was quite onerous, which I think any sort of assistance program really needs to be," Ms Christensen said.
"But when you couple that with the devastation they're facing and then try and address all of that while they're trying to get back on their feet … it can always be quite onerous."
WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis was contacted for comment.