A  TV News video clip explains that the St Vincent de Paul Society will be given $10 million from the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal to distribute to Queensland’s disaster victims. The Society could determine how much was given, and for what purpose. The Premier said St Vincent de Paul had been out on the frontline of the cyclone and floods and knew who the families were that needed help.

Liberal National Party (LNP) leader Campbell Newman said all the money should be given to charities like St Vincent de Paul so it could be distributed faster.

St Vincent de Paul Society has already helped almost 5000 disaster-affected Queensland households and exhausted the $4.75 million raised in its own disaster appeal.

No means testing will apply but assistance would be offered to families on a case-by-case basis.

The Society’s Queensland chief executive officer Peter Maher said “It’s about a hand up not a hand out,”

He said the charity would have one-on-one visits in disaster victims’ homes to make an assessment about their eligibility for financial help.

The money will go directly to disaster victims and won’t be spent on administration costs, Mr Maher said.