David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Nicholls for his question. He understands that this drought has spread like a cancer—first up in my part of the world, in my electorate, some seven years ago, then into the Northern Territory, now into New South Wales and Victoria, and even into Tasmania and across into South Australia. But our response has been ongoing. This isn't new; this has been ongoing. We continue to support. Tackling drought is like going up a set of stairs: every time it escalates you take another step, and that's what this government does in response to this drought. We've made sure that we've brought all the stakeholders with us, particularly after the National Drought Summit, to make sure that the commitment of the states and the Commonwealth is agreed, and we continue to have that unanimous and bipartisan approach to it. The states look after animal welfare, freight and fodder; we look after farmer welfare.

Our response has been predicated on three core pillars. The first pillar is about the here and now. We're giving our farmers the dignity and respect that they deserve by giving them the farm household allowance—$120,000 in farm support, money in their pockets—giving them the dignity to be able to have household expenses paid for them. We're creating an environment around them with rural financial councillors to help them make decisive decisions about their future, the strategic decisions about their future. We're also giving them the ability to access low-interest loans, saving them tens of thousands of dollars, putting money back into their pockets.

The second pillar is about the community. We understand this drought goes beyond the farmgate; it goes into the local economies, so we've empowered local councils to have local solutions, not Canberra solutions, to how we stimulate these local economies. We're getting projects that use local tradies using local materials from the local hardware store. But we also understand the mental health impacts, and we're making sure there are targeted mental health programs put into these communities. For the first time, we're thinking about the future. We're thinking about preparing for the next drought, taking the next step in terms of drought policy. That's been done in the past through over $500 million a year in tax concessions to farmers to help them prepare in the good years by putting away their money through farm management deposits—they're now able to offset that against their term debts—and also by building the infrastructure that stores the fodder to build the resilience. But it's also around the future fund—making sure there's a dividend to equip them with the tools to prepare for the next drought through research and development extension work so that they understand what is available for them, the tools they need and the new science and cutting-edge technology being prepared for the next one.

The third pillar is around the infrastructure. We're providing them with the water infrastructure to build resilience and to have a longer lag period between droughts. We're harvesting the water when it comes to give them a red-hot crack at getting through the next drought. Our job as a federal government is to put the environment and infrastructure around them. That's what our three-pillar policy is about. We're standing with them, shoulder to shoulder, saying, 'It will rain,' and, when it does rain, we will be there to protect them in the bad and the good years.

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