The emergency management minister has admitted a buyback scheme for houses damaged in last year’s Lismore floods should have been moving faster.

As the federal government announced new multimillion-dollar disaster recovery funding one year on from the devastating deluge, Murray Watt said he wanted to see more houses being taken up in the buyback scheme.

The scheme was announced late last year, with the program expected to offer as many as 2000 buybacks, but few offers have been made since.

The first formal offer was made in mid-February this year.

Senator Watt said subsequent floods in NSW had led to delays with the implementation of the buyback program.

“I definitely would have liked to have seen the buyback program move a bit more quickly,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.

“It obviously would have been great to have that program start sooner in NSW than it did, but I have to say that once once the program has started, it has started moving quickly.”

Similar schemes have been enacted in Queensland following flooding in the state, which Senator Watt said had been progressing faster.

One year on from the floods, the government has unveiled a $300 million package to repair damaged infrastructure so it would not get destroyed in subsequent disasters.

Senator Watt said communities would be better served with mitigation measures for future floods.

“Traditionally, what’s happened with federal and state funding after disasters is that things like roads and bridges get repaired to the same standard they were before a flood occurred,” he said.

“What we’re seeking to do through this new … funding is actually improve the standard of roads and bridges and other things so that they can withstand future flooding as well.”

More than 50 projects across 26 local council areas will receive funding as part of recovery efforts.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said the response was “way too slow”.

“When you’ve got 80 per cent of households not living in their own home 12 months after, and 50 per cent of the businesses losing their source of income … you have to understand and appreciate they haven’t got it right,” Mr Littleproud told Sky News.

“It’s important there is some courage in both the state and federal governments in making some decisions.”

He said if people wanted to move there should be an opportunity for them to do so, and if people wanted to stay there should be options for mitigation, such as raising the height of homes.

Mitigation dams should also be considered, Mr Littleproud said.

– AAP