1Short titleThis regulation may be cited as the Rural and Regional Adjustment (Variation of Special Disaster Assistance Recovery Grants Scheme) Amendment Regulation 2025.2Regulation amendedThis regulation amends the Rural and Regional Adjustment Regulation 2011.3Amendment of sch 23, s 3 (Definitions for schedule)(1)Schedule 23, section 3—insert—January–February 2025 Queensland flood disaster means the eligible disaster defined by the appropriate Minister on 1 February 2025, for the purpose of activating the disaster recovery funding arrangements, as ‘Communities within North and Far North Queensland areas affected by the tropical low, commencing 29 January 2025’ (as amended from time to time).(2)Schedule 23, section 3, definition damaged goods, after ‘livestock’—insert—and lost or damaged crops4Amendment of sch 23, s 6A (Requirements for assistance establishment notice)Schedule 23, section 6A(1)—insert—

(ca)if assistance for the event is available by way of an exceptional circumstances grant and the event is not mentioned in section 7(3)(a) to (d)—the maximum amount for the exceptional circumstances grant; andNote—See section 7(4).

5Amendment of sch 23, s 6B (Amending assistance establishment notice to change closing day)Schedule 23, section 6B—insert—(2)This section does not limit the Minister’s power, under the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 24AA, to amend other matters stated in the assistance establishment notice.6Amendment of sch 23, s 7 (Nature of assistance under scheme)(1)Schedule 23, section 7(3)(e)—omit, insert—

(e)otherwise—the maximum amount stated in the assistance establishment notice.

(2)Schedule 23, section 7—insert—(4)For subsection (3)(e), the stated amount must not be more than $75,000.7Amendment of sch 23, s 8 (Assistance under standard or exceptional circumstances grant generally)(1)Schedule 23, section 8(2)(g)—insert—

(viiia) for direct damage caused by the January–February 2025 Queensland flood disaster, or a subsequent eligible disaster—replacing lost or damaged eligible crops if the replacement is essential for immediately resuming operation of the primary production enterprise;

(2)Schedule 23, section 8(2)(g)(viiia) to (x)—renumber as schedule 23, section 8(2)(g)(ix) to (xi).(3)Schedule 23, section 8—insert—(3A)For subsection (2)(g)(ix), a grant to replace a lost or damaged eligible crop will cover the following cost—

(a)the cost of replacing the eligible crop with a crop of the same species;

(b)if the primary production enterprise elects to replace the eligible crop with a crop of a different species, the lesser of—

(i)the cost of replacing the eligible crop with the crop of the different species; or

(ii)the cost of replacing the eligible crop with a crop of the same species.

(4)Schedule 23, section 8(4)—insert—eligible crop means—

(a)for a pasture-based crop—a crop that was planted not more than 1 year before the eligible disaster in which the crop was lost or damaged; or

(b)for sugar cane—a crop that had not had its first harvest at the time of the eligible disaster in which the crop was lost or damaged; or

(c)a crop other than sugar cane or a pasture-based crop.

pasture-based crop means a crop grown for consumption by grazing animals, whether as pasture or after harvesting as hay or silage.Examples—grass, legumes(5)Schedule 23, section 8(4), definition plants, after ‘tube stock’—insert—, but does not include crops