Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Prime Minister for his words. Last week, my wife Chloe and I, along with the member for Hunter, had the privilege of visiting Longreach, Ilfracombe, Barcaldine and Emerald in Western Queensland. We had the privilege of listening to locals, who are battling this devastating drought. They generously welcomed us and educated us. Jody Brown, who runs sheep and cattle on Latrobe Station, out of Longreach, told me a lot of farmers feel like the drought cycles are getting longer and longer and the periods of relief and rain are getting shorter and shorter. Her words remind us that climate change is not some graph on a page in a report; it has devastating consequences for families and their livelihoods.

As Aaron Skinn, a very hardworking baker who runs a family bakery in Barcaldine, told me: 'Drought is hitting not just farms but the local towns as well.' This is why we need a coordinated national approach to deal with this one-in-100-year event. This means mobilising the resources of the Commonwealth to ensure that farmers can get their fodder, grain or water, while also maintaining biosecurity so that we're not transporting fire ants along with it. We need to make sure also that the jobs in the local cafe, the produce store and the metal fabricators are secure. If we keep the farms going, we keep the towns going.

The people who call this part of Australia home are brave and proud. But farming life can be precarious, as we currently witness. I think it takes a lot for them to ask for help from Canberra. So when they do, we should recognise that the need is dire. That is why Labor has said that the $12,000 in government assistance for families shouldn't be divided and staggered over one payment in September this year and one next March. If you need the lot up-front, you should just get it up-front. There should be no piles of paperwork and no bureaucratic delays. I think there's more we can do as a parliament to build water infrastructure in communities and on farms, and to work with the agronomists resowing the pasture. Let me also say to the big banks: you relied on government guarantee to get you through the global financial crisis; we will hold you to account for the way you treat communities in need.

The government has recently reached $700 million in penalties from the Commonwealth Bank. Prime Minister, together we should think about putting some of that money into drought relief rather than giving it back to banks as a tax break. Prime Minister, together let's work on a plan to reinvest these penalties in some of the people who've suffered more than their fair share of rip-offs from the banks. And, like the Prime Minister, I briefly want to thank everyone in our cities who's digging deep to support the various appeals and fundraisers. There are lots of people organising some fantastic initiatives, from something as simple as 'Parma for a farmer' to the big drought relief concert set to be headlined by the great Australian Johnny Farnham next Monday.

Barcaldine of course is where the Labor Party was born. But when I was there I also spoke with plenty of lifelong National Party people about what this parliament can do. At times like this, political identity is so far down the list that it doesn't matter. There are not LNP Australians going through the drought or Labor Australians going through the drought; there are just Australians. I think I speak for all members in this place when I say to farmers in dire need: you are our fellow Australians, and we are on your side.

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