Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the . The minister today wrote in an opinion piece, 'Our drought strategy is clear.' But this morning, Fiona Simpson, president of the NFF, said: 'Unfortunately, Australia remains without a national drought strategy. Like many farmers around the country, I am bamboozled.' Can the minister clarify: does the government actually have a drought strategy, and is the strategy the minister referred to the one the NFF doesn't agree exists—a strategy which was written in 1992, when the minister himself was 16 years old?

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

I thank the member for Indi for her question. Those halcyon days when I was 16! Let me make clear that we do have a drought strategy that is in action as we speak. It comes in three phases. It comes in the support we are providing in the here and now in keeping people in business. That's through the farm household allowance and through the concessional loans that are saving farmers tens of thousands of dollars because of the Regional Investment Corporation and the competitive interest rate we are providing.

The second phase is about community, because it is not just farmers that hurt during drought; it is also small businesses. That's why we have worked with local government, through the Drought Communities Program, to provide a million dollars to stimulate those economies, to get tradies going, to procure local materials from local hardware stores and to leave a lasting legacy of a project that the community can all enjoy. The third phase is about the future and preparing us for future droughts, in making sure we prepare not only farmers but also communities. We are proudly going to create the Future Drought Fund, a $5 billion fund that will give a $100 million dividend in the good and bad times, to make sure we can support these communities and put in place the measures that will support these communities. We have been quite clear.

Out of respect to the NFF, who we asked as the peak agricultural representative body to have input, we are saying that, as we continue to be agile with this drought, we will take parts if they can be constructive and implemented, and we will work with them. That's what a good government does; it listens, and it understands. We will continue to act as we need to act.

Our strategy is in action, with over $2 billion in the here and now keeping people going and keeping those communities going—many of which are in my own electorate. My whole electorate has been in this, some of it for up to eight years. I see those people. I know them by name and by face. It is important that the support that we provide is in the here and now, but that we also protect them for the future because, invariably, there will be droughts in the future. If we equip them with the tools to adapt and to attack the drought, then we, as regional Australia, will be stronger for it.

Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline to the House how the Morrison-McCormack government is supporting farmers and rural communities who are doing it tough in these drought conditions?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Flynn for his question. He comes from the great state of Queensland, where two-thirds of the state is impacted by drought. In New South Wales, 95 per cent of the state is impacted by drought. We've had droughts before. We had the Federation drought, we had a significant drought during the Second World War and we had the millennium drought in the 2000s. But I had the privilege to go with the member for Maranoa to Inverell, in the member for New England's seat, as well as to Stanthorpe and Warwick, in the member for Maranoa's seat, and, when we met with the farmers and the families who are affected by this drought, they told us that this is the worst drought in living memory. That is why this government is standing by them. We met Dino in Stanthorpe, who is an apple orchardist who has to truck in 100 loads of water each week, at a cost of around $40,000, and has had to pull 10,000 trees out of the ground just to keep the sustainability of his orchard.

The support that we are providing to the drought-stricken areas is in three parts, as the Prime Minister outlined. Firstly, it's the direct income support, the farm household allowance, which we have lifted and for which we have reduced significantly the red-tape burden. Secondly, it's the support for the communities, the support that we are giving the local government areas through the Drought Communities Program. This money is able to be spent with local tradies who are updating the stables at the rodeo areas or upgrading the cricketing pavilion—and we heard one story where they put up a fence to prevent the kangaroos coming onto the airport. All of this is just creating jobs in an area which is doing it really tough.

We've also put more money into financial counsellors, to provide the support to people who need it, as well as mental health support, which is critical at this time. There's also the water infrastructure. We are going to have a $5 billion Future Drought Fund which will be providing $100 million a year from mid-next year. Most recently, there was the announcement by the Prime Minister, with the Premier of New South Wales, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the National Party in New South Wales, of a joint commitment to $1 billion for water infrastructure, to help ensure the future viability of these communities.

Dorothea Mackellar spoke about a sunburnt country of droughts and flooding rains. She spoke for all of us. But what we need to do is continue to provide the support to the people who need it most, in the drought-stricken communities across our great country. (Time expired)