Australian PM announces disaster payments for communities affected by major bushfire

Seoul, Dec 29 (IANS) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced emergency disaster payments for people affected by a major bushfire in the country's southeast.

Albanese on Sunday assessed the damage caused by the ongoing bushfire in the Grampians National Park, approximately 230 km west of Melbourne, along with the Premier of the state of Victoria, Jacinta Allan, reports Xinhua news agency.

Albanese told reporters that federal and state government disaster recovery payments will be available from Monday for workers and sole traders directly affected by the fire, providing up to 13 weeks' worth of income support.

"This has been a devastating fire event," he said. "We live in a country that's got harsh conditions; the truth is they are becoming more frequent and more intense."

The bushfire was ignited by a lightning strike on December 6 and has burnt through over 70,000 hectares of farmland, national park and private property.

No injuries have been reported, but significant livestock was lost is reported.

Additionally, earlier on Saturday, three homes have been lost in the town of Moyston, while 11 outbuildings have been destroyed by the fire across Moyston and Pomonal.

Several towns and communities in and around the park were ordered to evacuate in the lead-up to Christmas Day, but most residents had been allowed to return home as of Sunday as conditions eased.

However, authorities have warned that they expect the fire to continue burning for several weeks.

Earlier on December 25, authorities in Australia's state of Victoria issued an emergency warning to residents in the Grampians mountain range, urging them to evacuate as bushfire conditions worsened. VicEmergency issued a fire warning on Wednesday afternoon, urging residents in Moyston and Pomonal, two towns in western Victoria, to leave immediately as the bushfire in Grampians National Park continued to burn.

Albanese on Sunday urged people to continue abiding by emergency warnings and evacuation orders, describing a failure to take them seriously as disrespectful to firefighting crews.

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