<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ex-Cyclone Alfred has blown a $1.2 billion hole in the upcoming federal budget, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The government has announced an extension to the disaster recovery allowance and payments to include Brisbane, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, Toowoomba and Somerset in Queensland and Clarence Valley, Richmond, Bellingen and Kyogle in NSW.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Those eligible can receive a once-off payment of $1000 per adult and $400 per child.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/deadly-deathcap-mushroom-warning-issued-as-autumn-kicks-in/7b25d25f-56d7-4a9d-919f-90e3546af3f2" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Aussies warned against fatal deathcap mushroom risk</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chalmers said the government's disaster response and payments will leave a billion-dollar mark on the budget, which will be handed down on Tuesday next week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Treasury expects there will be about a $1.2 billion hit to economic output, just as a consequence of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred. That's about a quarter of a percentage point in GDP," he told reporters at a press conference today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The $1.2 billion will be allocated towards funding to rebuild affected communities and will come under the total $13.5 billion for disaster response and recovery.</span></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2025/03/04/14/44/tropical-cyclone-alfred-update-photos"><img alt="Many dead or dying fish have washed up on shore of Richmond River in Ballina NSW, blackwater ex-Cyclone Alfred. " sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/vt8eqUPdT1HHHinbWcQwS2bB6c0=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F815f0280-bc33-4b54-9af4-b1c4178b1b7d" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/vt8eqUPdT1HHHinbWcQwS2bB6c0=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F815f0280-bc33-4b54-9af4-b1c4178b1b7d 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/aDi3i06ZLFr2jGkLSWnEdk6ukSA=/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F815f0280-bc33-4b54-9af4-b1c4178b1b7d 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">Thousands of NSW fish deaths expected due to cyclone 'blackwater'</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2025/03/04/14/44/tropical-cyclone-alfred-update-photos">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/federal-budget-2025-ex-tropical-cyclone-alfred-blows-12-billion-hole-in-upcoming-federal-budget/7186c977-500f-4696-8117-b3e3980301ab" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chalmers said he also anticipated an impact on fruit and vegetable costs after farms were inundated and an upward pressure on building costs as residents begin to rebuild.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"As a consequence, there will also be costs to the budget, and those costs will be substantial," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The past two budgets have delivered a surplus, totalling a $200 billion improvement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chalmers said he will be "printing a deficit for this year", but it will be "much, much smaller than what we inherited from our political opponents".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/peruvian-fisherman-found-alive-after-95-days-lost-at-sea/117d26ee-567e-4667-ad6d-5cf580bff0f1" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Peruvian fisherman found alive after 95 days lost at sea</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the peak of the weather system, about five million people and two million homes in south-east Queensland and northern NSW were in the firing line for the once-in-a-generation event. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The category 2 storm was downgraded to category 1 after making landfall on the islands off south-east Queensland on March 8 and weakened further to a tropical low by the time it crossed the mainland coast.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More than 450,000 homes were without power, and the government estimates about 12 million work hours were lost as businesses closed down and residents were told to remain indoors.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was expected to call the federal election on March 9 for April 12, which would have impacted the federal budget initially scheduled to be delivered on March 25.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The announcement was jeopardised when Alfred slowed and delayed its landfall to that same weekend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/abc-working-to-resolve-issue-after-radio-national-goes-silent/bfb33ea7-4a7d-44f8-b6fc-81ab24b56c8f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>ABC apologises for radio silence as services are restored</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On the eve of the cyclone's forecasted landfall, Albanese confirmed he would not call the election that weekend or the following Monday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I have no intention of doing anything that distracts from what we need to do and what we need to do is to look after each other at this difficult time. This is not a time for looking at politics," he told ABC's </span><em><span>7.30</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It meant that, because of the legally required 33-day campaign length, an April 12 election could not be held.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chalmers will hand down the federal budget as planned next week, with the federal election now expected to be held sometime in May.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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