Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously the member for Lyons has a large heart for his community. The issues raised by the member for Lyons highlight the difficulties being faced by farming and rural communities around Australia. Speaking in support of this motion, the member for Lyons detailed the response to a particular situation in his Tasmanian electorate. It would no doubt come as a surprise to many Australians not familiar with Tasmania’s Central Highlands that it could be affected by the dry conditions that have had such a devastating impact on other parts of rural Australia. The same could be said of the West Gippsland region of Victoria, which is encompassed by my electorate of McMillan. This is an area known historically for its temperate climate, lush vegetation and the reliability of its rainfall—conditions that have proved ideal for the development of one of Australia’s premier dairying districts. But, as in the electorate of Lyons, an extended drought saw farmers in my electorate last year faced with the previously unheard of situation of having to pay up to $200 a day to transport water to their stock. Mostly self-sufficient in fodder, dairy farmers in McMillan also had to compete with other drought affected regions for hay and saw their fodder budgets quadruple.

A decade ago it would have been considered impossible for West Gippsland to qualify for exceptional circumstances drought relief, yet that was the situation we found ourselves in. The experience of the electorates of Lyons and McMillan illustrate just how serious the water supply situation is in most areas of rural Australia. It tells us the face of agriculture will have to change if we are to meet the challenge of a future in which some experts tell us we will have to live with more and longer dry spells.

Australian farmers have demonstrated in the past that they are able and willing to adapt and innovate to increase their efficiency and productivity. One of the examples of that I am most familiar with is the dairying industry. Less than 40 years ago there were 60,000 dairy farmers in Australia, milking an average of 22 cows. Today there are around 6,000 dairy farmers and the average herd is 300 cows. They produce an additional two billion litres of milk annually, while milking one million fewer cows. Education and training will be even more important to the farmers of the future, with large operations more likely to be employing pasture managers or irrigation managers.

As has been demonstrated in the seat of Lyons and in McMillan the management of water resource will be vital and will involve the farming community, governments and communities. Governments also will have to re-evaluate how they will respond to the possibility of longer and more frequent drought conditions. They will need to revise the guidelines for exceptional circumstances and other drought relief measures to redress inequities in the system as well as the level of support that can be sustainably provided, whether it be income support or interest rate subsidies. The management of water resource is going to be the major challenge confronting us as we enter an era of climatic uncertainty, and it is a challenge for which we must prepare now.

The people in the electorate of the member for Lyons have suffered a green drought and we have suffered a green drought. Others will come through our communities and say, ‘But look at the place; it’s green.’ They do not understand the instability and the vulnerability of the people within the area. Second, the member for Lyons called for help for those who are dealing with a wounded spirit. It is a community with a wounded spirit that has been caused by drought and by the suffering that that has caused families. The member for Lyons told a story about the activity within a community of John Jones. His story would be repeated across this great south land from Western Australia to Tasmania and all the way to the tip of Cape York. There are people just like that man who actually go out of their way on behalf of their communities to make sure that they receive the benefits that government can give to them.

There is just one thing we cannot do. There is one thing no government can do. It can only be done by a community that is alive and aware to an individual situation. It is this. If you are doing it hard, either financially or emotionally, get help. Somewhere, somebody is there to help you. There are hotlines, there are people available, and we say to you, ‘Get help early.’ The response from government, and from all those involved, to the drought in Tasmania to my thinking has been exceptional. Whether it is the fly fisherman the other day who was worried about turbulence, the pipeline they want to put in for new irrigation, desalination, recycling or water efficiencies, they are all things we ourselves are going to have to address coming into this next season.

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