Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Farm Household Support Bill 2014 and the Farm Household Support (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2014. This bill is very close to my heart and it is very important to the people I represent. Indeed, the Parkes electorate has been the epicentre of this current drought. In particular, the three shires along the Queensland border—Bourke, Brewarrina and Walgett—and the western end of the Moree Shire and the northern end of the Coonamble Shire have been dry for a very long time. To put it into context, in a normal season the Walgett Shire produces a million tonnes of wheat. Last year, they produced none. The sad reality is that this drought is not over. Indeed, with no subsoil moisture and the window for planting winter crops only a matter of months away, circumstances look incredibly dire for the next 12 months.

I acknowledge the Prime Minister's support for this bill. I also acknowledge the very good work by my colleague the Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce. While this drought affects a large area, in the overall scheme of things it does not affect a large number of people. However, through the work of Barnaby Joyce, this drought became known right across the nation. I acknowledge the work that he did in bringing the plight of the people I represent onto the national stage. The Prime Minister visited Bourke, stood in a paddock completely denuded of grass and recognised that we were actually witnessing a natural disaster, and I believe that was very beneficial. The fact that he ended up getting 70 millimetres of rain on top of him before he left was an added benefit. While that was a wonderful start for the area around Bourke, I was out there last week and it is still very dry elsewhere—particularly in the Walgett-Collarenebri area, but right across into the slopes back towards Moree and Warialda. So we are in the middle of a very dry time and we have not seen the end of it yet.

This package has several components. Indeed, the interim farm household allowance will give people who are in very desperate circumstances access to funds to pay immediate household bills and put food on the table. So, regardless of whatever else they are battling in their daily lives, they will know that they have money to feed their families and pay essential bills. I also acknowledge that some of the guidelines for receiving that support have been changed in this bill. I very much welcome that. This will allow more people to access these funds, as some of the people who were excluded under the previous system will now be included.

Another component of the package is the concessional loans, with $280 million available to people at a reduced interest rate. That will give farmers access to funds to continue buying fodder for their stock and to pay immediate farm bills. This is not going to cure the ills of the drought and it is certainly not going to completely take the pressure off farmers. As they look forward, with mounting debts and no end in sight, it is, and will remain, a very stressful time. These concessional loans will act as a circuit breaker, allowing farmers to access some funds and maybe offset some of the long-term debt they have with the banks. These concessional loans may allow them to get some interest relief and free up a bit of cash for farm expenditure.

The water related infrastructure fund is also a very crucial part of that. I am rapidly coming to the end of my time to speak now but, hopefully, when I am able to conclude this presentation I will be able to expand on the need for the water infrastructure fund and the fact that water is—

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