Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Farm Household Support Amendment (Additional Drought Assistance Measures) Bill 2008 is important for Australian farmers, for small business operators in rural towns and for my seat of Corangamite. Whilst only a small proportion of my region has been declared to be in exceptional circumstances, it is significant that it is the sort of country Australians normally associate with drought stricken circumstances. In fact, much of the farming country in my electorate has always been particularly productive. It is a measure of climate change, and of the changing circumstances that lie ahead for our farming community, that some of the region is now in this category. This is why it is important. All farmers in the region can see change and they want to know that there is support for them. That is important for our local farmers and small business operators in the regional areas of Corangamite. This bill gives some peace of mind and improved future financial security for a very important group of Australians: the group of Australians that work so hard to put food and drink on our tables and to help significantly with our exports and balance of payments.

The Farm Household Support Amendment (Additional Drought Assistance Measures) Bill 2008 provides legal authority for changes to drought assistance measures which were introduced in 2007. This bill broadens eligibility criteria to allow more small business operators in small rural towns affected by drought to access exceptional circumstances relief payments. In this bill, we are also increasing the maximum allowable exempt off-farm non-business income for exceptional circumstances receipt payment income test. As well, the bill aligns payment more closely with mainstream welfare programs. It does this, for example, by removing the eligibility requirement that recipients be in Australia in order to receive the payment, aligning it to that which applies to recipients of Newstart allowance. This bill also seeks to amend the Social Security Act 1991 to make sure the new category of small business operators, as well as newly eligible farmers, will be able to access concessions under the youth allowance and Austudy means tests and to have access to the healthcare card.

This bill has been fully costed and budgeted for. Costing of these changes was agreed to by the former government, with our bipartisan support, as an $85 million budget measure. I want to make one thing clear about this bill, and I am pleased to be able to say it: this has been a totally bipartisan initiative, with both major parties agreeing to the measures and costings. I think we are aware of how important the farming sector is. I think we are all aware that we must make the farming industry more efficient, but we must also support it during difficult times. I do not think there would be one individual in this parliament who would like to see Australia lose its food industry. I do not think even the harshest, flat earth, laissez-faire free marketeers on the other side of this chamber would stand by and let Australian farmers perish and let the industry be shipped offshore. Well, there might be one or two over there.

In my electorate of Corangamite, farmers and the farming industry play a vital role. Thousands of local people are employed in farming and agriculture in Corangamite. Thousands of local families depend on farming income. And our region has not been immune to climate change. Recently, Minister Burke visited my region of Corangamite. On that trip, we visited some dairy farms. Despite those farms being viable farms within the same family for many generations, many for the first time were accessing government assistance. I know a number of farmers who were very relieved just a few weeks ago when some important rain came at about the right time. They will soon need more. In our neck of the woods, the rains are not coming as frequently as they once did or with the same intensity.

This bill will help protect this industry in Australia and help many families who depend on it. Targeted safety net income support and auxiliary benefits will help rural families in hardship as a result of this ongoing drought. Measures are focused specifically on drought affected rural and regional communities and individuals within rural and regional communities.

Exceptional circumstances assistance payment remains the government’s primary mechanism for providing support to drought affected farmers and dependent small business operators in rural areas. The exceptional circumstances assistance payment is one of the main assistance measures, providing targeted safety net income support to eligible farmers and small business operators under the Farm Household Support Act 1992. Payments are similar to other welfare support arrangements such as Newstart allowance, although some specific eligibility criteria exist for farmers and small business operators to take into account their different circumstances.

Ancillary benefits, such as a healthcare card, are available to recipients of legislated welfare assistance payments, including those in receipt of exceptional circumstances payments. Centrelink automatically issues exceptional circumstances recipients with a healthcare card, in addition to the Austudy and youth allowance payments received by the children of recipients, which I think is a fantastic thing.

I see a couple of aspects in this detail that need some drawing out, as they are very important. Firstly, the issue of healthcare cards. My experience is that farmers are generally a hardy, self-reliant and resilient group of people. In tough times of drought and financial hardship people often go without and are sometimes tempted to run the gauntlet by not getting the health care they need. Sometimes they might do it by cutting back on the extras their kids need. Again, this is not an acceptable set of circumstances. A healthcare card in these circumstances can be a huge help. Medicines are often a big cost if someone gets sick and a healthcare card will certainly help with that. It is absolutely essential that farming families’ health is looked after during the hard times. It is essential that the children and dependents of farmers are not punished due to drought and the vagaries of the weather.

We have to look after kids as a priority—whether they are from the city, a regional town or a farm—and nothing is more important than a kid’s education. Providing better access to Austudy and youth allowance is often vital in ensuring farm kids get the education they need. That is a very important benefit which this bill is helping people access.

I am very pleased to speak on this bill. Certainly, it will put in place the legal mechanisms required to support the bipartisan approach taken in September last year, a bipartisan approach which I think is very commendable. It certainly builds on the commitments that the then Hawke government made back in the early nineties to provide real assistance to farming families which were being affected by drought. I commend the bill to the House.

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