The Queensland Reconstruction Authority is also establishing an office in North Queensland to help residents affected by the recent Tropical Cyclone Yasi disaster.

“Recovering from a cyclone is different to recovering from a flood,” the Premier Anna Bligh said. “The recovery from Yasi in the North is best run from the North."

“We need the support of a dedicated North Queensland office and someone on the ground who knows the region,” she said.

Chief Superintendent Mike Keating will be seconded from the police service to head the dedicated office. Mike Keating’s police experience includes more than 20 years in North Queensland working in communities such as Cairns, Innisfail, Cardwell, Tully and Townsville.

Keating will be the director of cyclone recovery reporting to the CEO of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority Graeme Newton. Major General Mick Slater will chair the Authority, which will be established under special legislation to be introduced when Parliament resumes on the 15th of February.

The Premier said the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, tasked with rebuilding and reconnecting the more than 60 communities affected by the floods, would now include North Queensland in its mammoth reconstruction task.

Newsletter: To receive real estate update, sign up here