Abbott fiddles as Blue Mountains Burns

Winmalee residents criticise disaster relief eligibility rules, as Blue Mountains fires burn

Upset locals used the meeting to vent their frustration at the Federal Government for tightening eligibility rules for disaster assistance, with payments of $1,000 per adult and $400 per child available.

However, the payment is only available for people who are severely injured or if their homes have been destroyed or badly damaged.

Unlike victims of the Tasmanian bushfires or Tropical Cyclone Oswald, the Government is not offering assistance to those who have been cut off from their homes or who are without electricity or water.

Locals say not everyone affected can get the help they need.

One resident, Leigh, said his mother lost her home in the fire and is eligible for the assistance.

But he is angry that funding will not be available for his sister, whose home was damaged, when she would have been eligible in the past.

"When I found out people were having entitlements stripped from them that they would have had previously, I was livid," he said.

"It's something I'll keep on until I get an answer from our local member Louise Markus who is supposed to be representing us."

Labor Senator Doug Cameron, who lives in the area, says he can't understand the Government's reasoning, putting the changes down to "a stupid cost-cutting exercise". 

"The Government made a declaration that diminished the access for residents in the Blue Mountains to a payment, an emergency relief payment set up by the Government," he said.

"What they did, they took away the payment for people who couldn't access their house for 24 hours, were trapped in their house for 24 hours or lost utilities for a period of 48 hours. That's all gone."

Ms Markus, the local Liberal MP, defended the level of assistance on offer.

"What I'm assured... there's much assistance already available and many people are accessing and having their needs met," she said.

"There [are] both payments and allowances that are available to those that have lost their home, or their home has been seriously damaged, or for those families or individuals that may have been injured."

The coordinator of the Blue Mountains bushfire recovery, Phil Koperberg, offered his personal support to those affected by the fires.

"Those people who work with me will think this is a very foolish thing of me to do, but I want you to take note of a telephone number now and that is my personal mobile number." he said.

"Should you find an obstruction in your road to recovery, I want you to feel free to phone me and it doesn't matter when or it doesn't matter what about."