On a few days after Prime Minister John Howard announced the $100 million Cyclone Larry relief package, word gets out the cash payouts are to be raised substantially.
There was plenty of criticism that the figures cited for relief would not be enough, and the local federal member for the affected region, Bob Katter, raised it in Canberra during question time on Monday afternoon.
"I don't want to be made a hostage to this figure but I would expect the figure as far as the federal government is concerned to be well in excess of $100 million," Prime Minister Howard said in response to Katter's questions and concerns.
"It may even go much higher than that depending on the duration of the reconstruction period."
