Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on the Future Drought Fund Bill. This bill broadly mirrors the bill which passed the House earlier this year. I supported the bill then and I intend to support the bill again today. However, Centre Alliance has some concerns around the measures contained in this bill and we will reserve our position in the Senate, although I am pleased to continue talks with the minister in good faith while the bill has passage through this House and into the Senate.

Low rainfall and rising temperatures have already crept into my electorate, with dairy farmers struggling to meet the rising cost of water, yet at the same time apple growers in other parts of my electorate are being bombarded with fierce storms and face the prospect of another year, potentially, of damage from those storms. I fear that the drought, the unpredictable storms and the weather that we cannot predict will become the new normal as we march towards a future where climate is changing.

We need a nationally consistent approach to ensure that all primary producers are equipped to deal with the consequences of a changing climate. The government says that this Future Drought Fund is to be a long-term investment intended to build resilience, including preparedness and recovery, in drought-affected communities. It aims to provide support to research, development and innovation projects but will also deliver infrastructure projects and support to improve environmental and natural resource management, and I commend those aims. But to meet these aims, the bill will facilitate the transfer of $3.9 billion from the Building Australia Fund to the proposed Future Drought Fund. The Building Australia Fund provided the government with the opportunity to invest in critical infrastructure across the nation, including sustainable water infrastructure programs to encourage drought-resilient communities across Australia. My concern is that, while well-intentioned, the focus of the Future Drought Fund could perhaps be decidedly narrower, with a disproportionate focus on particular locations or electorates, and I don't think we want to see that.

It is expected that the Future Drought Fund will, under the guidance of the Future Fund Board of Guardians, grow to $5 billion over the next decade while at the same time making annual disbursements of around $100 million, with the first proposed to occur on 1 July 2020. While I commend the qualifications and experience required for the people who will be the part-time members of the Future Fund board, I also think it's really important that the members are geographically diverse across Australia. I do not want to see that board become a board of east coast members. It's important to remember that all parts of Australia experience drought, and all parts of Australia have agriculture as a significant part of their reason for being a state, essentially, including my electorate. I often hear in this place that people feel that New South Wales is the food bowl. Well, can I just say that my electorate of Mayo also considers itself to be a food bowl. We grow a variety of products, a variety of horticulture—

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