Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the motion be amended to read—That this House:

(1)   notes that:

(a)   in the 2011 Budget, the Labor Government announced the extension of the Exceptional Circumstances Exit Grants program as part of its drought assistance measures;

(b)   less than 6 weeks after the program was announced even after being boosted to $14 million, the Government announced that funds had run out;

(c)   this Exit Grant was often the only means by which some farmers could exit their farms with sufficient support to transition to a new livelihood;

(d)   some farmers who applied and were pre-assessed as eligible for the grant, proceeded to put their farms on the market, and had sold their farms through exchange of contracts, prior to the announcement that the funds had now run out; and

(e)   some farmers, on the basis of the possibility of the Exit Grant support, have made financial commitments to buy alternative accommodation so they can transition to their new locality and employment; and

(2)   calls on the Government to now provide payments through the Act of Grace process to farmers who had sold their farms through exchange of contracts by 10 August 2011.

I thank the government for being supportive of this amendment and understanding of the very extreme circumstances that a lot of our farmers are in, having survived the drought but not with any financial assets that give them the possibility of a new life beyond farming. These EC Exit Grants were of very great importance for their futures. We are now asking that people can access an act of grace payment. There are a number of them who managed to sell their farms at the time when the EC Exit Grants closed, prematurely—for example, after a few months. I wish for this amendment to be understood and accepted so that our farmers who are in this dreadful situation, who now have applications before the appropriate minister, will be made eligible for an act of grace payment to support them into a new life.

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