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

Picking up from where I left off before question time on the drought support package, I would like to now talk about the additional funding for water related infrastructure in New South Wales and Queensland. As you would know, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, from your seat of Maranoa, reliable water is vital and, indeed, the farmers that are on the capped and piped bore schemes are the ones that are managing this drought now better than most. A lot of the surface water has dried up, so having that reliable water is important.

What has shown up in this drought is the environmental damage that can be done by having concentrated water points. So the idea of this additional funding is for farmers to be able to expand the network of their water infrastructure across their properties to enable the livestock to be spread out, to give them access to clean, fresh water and also to have access to all sections of their property. I believe that this part of the package will be roundly welcomed by the farmers. I would also like to mention at this point that we need to continue on with the GABSI, the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative, which has enabled many of these bores already to be capped and piped. In New South Wales and Queensland, there are still about 500 bores to go. The fact that the water pressure has increased in those areas, from the piping and capping, and despite what some of the green mischief makers might say about the Great Artesian Basin, shows that this has been a great initiative. Indeed, many bores are now flowing that were not before because of the piping and capping under GABSI. There is also social support assistance that will help communities, mental health workers and service providers in drought affected areas. That is also very important—that those people have the support on the ground.

Finally, there is also the issue of pest management. As much as we admire our coat of arms, at the moment the emus and kangaroos are in plague proportions. They are actually dying from starvation in many areas. There needs to be a program in place to control not only those but also wild dogs and wild pigs that are impacting on those areas and making it difficult to support and feed those livestock. Having spoken to a farmer in my electorate who is trying to feed his sheep where the emus are chasing the sheep away from the feed, I can tell you it has been a very, very frustrating exercise. I might note that the green groups that protest about animal rights, PETA and groups such as that, have been remarkably absent in this drought. I have not seen any of those green activists offering to help a farmer support and feed their livestock.

In closing, I would like to say that the farmers that need this assistance need this assistance because there has been no rain. Don't anyone in this place and outside think that the farmers are in financial difficulty because of management decisions or lack of expertise. The farmers in the Parkes electorate and the farmers in these drought affected areas in the northern and western part of the Parkes electorate are some of the most efficient in the world. It should be known that they are producing more kilograms of grain, fibre and meat per millimetre of rain and litre of diesel than anywhere else in the world. Indeed, if they were using the farming methods that their fathers and grandfathers used, they would have been out of business some years ago. The problem is that it has not rained for approximately two years in some places. Many of these farmers have stored fodder, they have put away what cash reserves they have and they have done an absolute sterling job in keeping their properties running for the last 18 months to two years without any rainfall. But what we are looking at now is going into the next winter, which means the next 12 months without sufficient income, and quite frankly I do not believe there is any enterprise that can be prepared to carry itself through that level of drought and disadvantage.

As a nation and as a government we have a responsibility to keep those people on those farms in a position where, when it does rain, they can get back into production. When it does rain, these areas are immensely productive. We should understand that our farmers are the most efficient anywhere in the world but they are in drought. This is not a handout for inefficient farmers; this is a hand up for farmers who are dealing with a climatic condition that is disastrous for them.

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