Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management. Are you aware that, after the north's flooding cattle deaths, the PM came, listened and delivered two dams and $2,000 million? At the Drought Summit, in contrast, did you not say that the free market is not necessarily benevolent, that we must learn to live with it and accept climate change and that 'we cannot carry you forever'? Ideology—where is the survival plan? Isn't this the policy of the corporate elites, wanting you to buy up owner-operator Australia, and the city suits enriched by selling to foreigners? Have you stopped a single sale? Minister, who is the master that you serve?

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 honourable member for his question. I answer quite fairly and quite proudly that I serve the Australian people. I say that, with respect to foreign sales, he has directed the question to the wrong minister. That, I can inform him, is the responsibility of the Treasurer.

Let me talk about a survival plan. With the north-west floods, Shane Stone, who is leading the recovery in that area, has done an amazing job in making sure that we have had a targeted approach not only in restocking, replanting and giving grants to get these farmers back on their feet after their whole income was wiped out in one event but also in agristarter loans—$5 million loans to help them restart. That's a survival plan.

Let me tell you about a survival plan for the drought. This is about making sure that we understand our responsibilities. The states have clear responsibilities, clearly articulated. We unanimously agreed after the drought summit that the states would look after animal welfare, freight and fodder, and we would look after farmer welfare.

We've proudly committed $7 billion in a three-pillar approach to drought. The first pillar is the here and now—making sure we give our farmers the dignity and the respect they deserve and put money in their pockets through the farm household allowance. In fact, over the life of the farm household allowance, farming families will get over $100,000 from Australian taxpayers to provide them with the dignity and respect they deserve. We are also providing rural financial counsellors to give them the environment to make the decisions they need.

The second pillar, looking after the community, is about understanding that drought doesn't just hurt farmers; it also hurts communities and the small businesses that support the agricultural sector. The Drought Communities Program is giving a $1 million stimulus to these communities to let them build projects, using local tradies and local materials from the local hardware store. It is stimulating the economy and keeping it going.

The third pillar is about the future. We are the first government to understand that we're going to tackle not only this drought but also future droughts with a future fund—a $5 billion future fund that will give a $100 million dividend every year in the good and bad times to help equip our farmers with the tools to prepare for the future. That's on top of the $500 million we already give in tax incentives every year for them to prepare, through farm management deposits and instant asset write-offs, and the water infrastructure that, you quite clearly articulated, we have committed to building for the first time.

We are saying to the states, 'Take our hand.' It is now time to understand that the states have a responsibility. Our hand is out; we're not shirking our responsibility. We will go hand in hand with anyone who wants to take our hand. We believe in regional Australia and its future, and we believe in farmers. If we allow them to have the environment to undertake it, they will shine and regional and rural Australia will shine.