Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about an all too familiar topic, and one which I think unites both sides of the House: the issue of drought and the assistance that is provided to farmers as a result of their being in an exceptional circumstances declared area. We all know that drought has been the scourge of farmers not only in Queensland but in much of Australia in the last decade and certainly, as a previous representative of rural industry, I have had too much experience in drought not only as a farmer but also through assisting farmers as they try to cope with the extraordinarily difficult financial and psychological impacts of drought.

I have dealt with a series of ministers for agriculture and ministers for primary industry in my time, including the now Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, and in more recent times the current Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. In doing that, I have tried to emphasise to them that once the rains come the drought is not necessarily over—that is, the drought in terms of income is not over—so there has to be some very careful management of the removal of exceptional circumstances. I was heartened when the minister for agriculture said earlier this year:

... that’s why it’s been important for me to give the guarantee that in any review of future drought policy people who are currently on EC assistance need to have a guarantee that the rules won’t be changed from under them. They’re protected. We are not going to, you know, pull the rug from under them at the most desperate time ...

The minister said that on 18 May this year. The salient point is this:

We are not going to, you know, pull the rug from under them at the most desperate time ...

In my electorate of Groom, I have farmers who are still covered by exceptional circumstances, thanks to the extension granted by the minister for agriculture. They and I are grateful for the way in which the minister has handled that issue. This is not a political issue; this is an issue about people. It is an issue about ensuring that everyone is treated fairly. I want to make it very clear that I am not attempting to make a political point. I see this as an oversight in administration.

I rise today to seek the minister’s support. I have written to him asking him to reconsider the boundary issues in relation to the southern part of my electorate, in particular the area that covers Cambooya and Hodgsonvale, but also in areas that used to be in my electorate, such as Clifton, where the seasonal conditions are perhaps marginally better but not long term discernibly better than those areas where he has maintained the exceptional circumstance listing.

Farmers such as Edwin Metzroth, who has contacted my office this week, have been removed from exceptional circumstances as a result of lines being drawn on a map. Edwin faces an extraordinarily difficult situation. He informs me his calving rate is 70 per cent of the normal—that is, he will have only 30 per cent of the calves and therefore ultimately 30 per cent of the income he would normally expect.

The areas south of Toowoomba need reassessing. The state Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries, Mr Mulherin, reassessed the boundaries in the Gatton area the week before last and successfully had them changed so that the farmers there were re-included in exceptional circumstances. It is my very strong view that, until there is a long-term break in the season, until there are widespread rains which return these fertile valleys to the rich productivity they so enjoyed a decade or so ago, there should be a reassessment of these boundaries and that the areas, particularly around Hodgsonvale and Cambooya in the southern Darling Downs zones, should be readmitted into exceptional circumstances.