Senator Perin Davey addresses November floods in Molong on Tuesday

Deputy leader of the party and shadow minister for water and emergency management, Senator Perin Davey was on the ground in Cabonne on Tuesday to meet with council in Molong.

In a message to residents across the five disaster-stricken communities of Canowindra, Cudal, Eugowra, Manildra and Molong, the senator admitted she hadn't physically visited the Central West until now - nearly 10 months since the November floods.

Though she said she's "been in constant contact" with Cabonne council the whole time, along with fighting for the region in Canberra.

"The floods here were in November 2022 and we lost government in May 2022, so we weren't in government when that happened at a federal level," Ms Davey said.

"But I have been actively lobbying to support getting those business grants out, and we got the disaster recovery funding arrangement activated as soon as the state government declared that emergency and as quickly as possible to make sure those communities could get supported."

It's "the gap" in extra support - afforded to the northern rivers in a similar situation, that still hasn't happened for residents in the western region - that is a direct result of the change in government, she explained.

Her understanding is the current rule-makers are "facing a funding cliff" and that "they can't afford" to financially help more.

"Whereas we were well on our way to having very constructive discussion with the previous state government to try and get those arrangements put in place," she said.

Asked about ideas for flood mitigation in the region, the senator talked about leaning on Orange, 30-odd kilometres from Molong.

This also included barracking for new construction works in the region.

"Certainly, in Orange, we've got some storm water reservoirs being upgrading and improving that will help," Ms Davey said.

"And I know that the rail-bridge here in town [Molong] sometimes acts as a bit of a mini dam, so we need to look at ways to get retrofit box culverts so that the water can move across the landscape quickly, so it doesn't back up and it doesn't sink in.

"There's more that can be done, but it will be up to the council to bring the best works."

She said Cabonne Council had "been batting" for its region's flood-affected residents, putting in every effort and "lobbying hard".

Though from the nationals' standing in government, she said it's difficult to get money over the line.

"From opposition it's hard [because] we don't have our hands on the chequebook anymore, but we are working very hard," the shadow minister said.

"The federal government has indicated that they are ready and willing to put forward a package [for home buybacks], but it has to be matched by the state government."

She believes the resilient homes packages should give people in flood-prone areas the ample opportunity to relocate if they see fit, with broader options on the table.

Having both buyback and retrofit on the agenda, this included elevating homes if residents so choose.

"People who are right in the middle of the floodplain, who know they're going to be in the path next time, might want to sell their house back to the government so that they can relocate somewhere else," she said.

"There are also houses where retrofitting might be applicable, where you can go through the house, lift up all the power points, and make the house more suitable or more resilient to floods.

"There's also raising [of homes] like in Queensland, where they've provided funding to have houses raised and that works quite effectively in certain areas.

"But you can't have a one size fits all, so giving those three options through the program would be what I would like to see for this region."

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