Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The exceptional circumstances program offered time-limited one-off exit grants for farmers whose farm enterprise was, or is, located in an area covered by the exceptional circumstances declaration after 1 July 2010. This initiative provided an exit grant of up to $150,000, advice and a retraining grant of up to $10,000 to assist in planning for farm exit, and a relocation grant of up to $10,000 to pursue new employment opportunities. It was clearly stated that the program would be available until 30 June 2012 or—and this is the bit that those opposite deliberately ignored—until all the funding was taken up. It is not that hard: you have a pot of money and when you spend it there is nothing left; that is the end of the pot. They say, 'You shouldn't do this, but you're reckless in your spending and you throw money away.' So when we budget things, when we make the funds available, we are bad and if we continually put money in we are bad. It shows one thing: it shows that the only thing those opposite can do is say no; that is all they can do. Also, we made it clear that anyone who believed they were affected by the closure of the program could seek a review or make an appeal. And we are working closely with people to lodge act of grace claims. What that means is each claim will be considered on its merits.

After 11 years of neglect and unsuccessful programs under the coalition government, they are now trying to affect the future of Australia's farming sector. We are trialling two reform measures in Western Australia. Central to this is an exit grant system that moves farmers from a crisis management approach to risk management and increasing skills and training. As Mr Zappia pointed out earlier, we are actually about trying to keep farmers on the farm and keep them going, keep them working and doing what they do best. Those on the other side fail dismally on this part and it is further evidence that they know nothing about farming. (Time expired)

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