FOOD FINALLY ARRIVES IN THE EAST KIMBERLEY

The Victoria Highway has now re-opened. Credit: DFES Facebook.

Relief for people in the East Kimberley has been welcomed, with fresh food supplies finally arriving and hitting supermarket shelves over the weekend.

Community advocates say it’s time serious action is taken to secure the region's food security.

The towns of Halls Creek, Kununurra, Wyndham, and others across the East Kimberley were isolated from the rest of the country more than a week ago, when floodwaters surged above the bridge on Victoria Highway, linking Western Australia to the Northern Territory.

Supermarket shelves stocked for the first time in over a week in Kununurra. Credit: DFES Facebook

That Highway reopened late on Friday. But it will be months before a temporary bridge is built at Fitzroy Crossing, to allow movement Westward on the Great Northern Highway.

Mandy Milburn, who runs the Kununurra Community Kitchen, has told Waringarri Media the region must be better prepared for the next seasonal floods.

“One way that we could avoid this for the future is to ensure that all of the services and organisations and businesses in the community are having their voices expressed to their local members of Parliament and to the Shire, and that they’re following through,” she said.

“That the Shire and state government are taking proactive measures, to make sure that we don’t go through these things every year.

“What we need to centralise our food relief and food security function, is a warehouse and staff. And that’s currently something that I know the assets are here.

“I don’t think it’s a hard fix. I think it’s just about putting our heads together actually.”

The ABC reported that locals have called on the state government to improve its freight subsidies in the Kimberley due to claims that the scheme is not supporting local business owners.