Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to update the House on how the Morrison government's extension of the Drought Communities Program is making a real difference to regional communities in my electorate of O'Connor. The Drought Communities Program supports communities in drought affected areas across Australia. Last year, I wrote to both the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, and the Prime Minister, calling for the program to be extended to Western Australian communities experiencing extremely dry conditions. I was very pleased in January to see a great outcome, with the program extended to a further 52 communities experiencing hardship, 20 of which are in my electorate of O'Connor. Communities of less than 1,000 people received $500,000, and communities with a larger population received $1 million to get local infrastructure projects and other drought resilience activities off the ground. This brings the total commitment under the program to $301 million since 2018. For the shires of Brookton, Broomehill-Tambellup, Esperance, Jerramungup, Kulin, Lake Grace, Pingelly and Plantagenet at Ravensthorpe, this funding has brought a welcome boost to their communities.

The funding will be a huge benefit to these communities who have suffered prolonged low rainfall and will support events that create jobs, boost tourism, improve community wellbeing and enable construction of important community infrastructure. For the Shire of Brookton, $500,000 will be put towards a Brookton recreational precinct upgrade to enhance community facilities and tourism infrastructure, allowing increased community access to quality services for years to come. This project will include the construction of the community garden, a Men's Shed building and a youth building, creating age-appropriate spaces for the various community groups to enjoy. The local caravan park is also located in this precinct where the funding will be used to upgrade the camp kitchen, ablution blocks and signage to bolster the local tourism sector. In the Shire of Broomehill-Tambellup, $1 million will be put towards initiatives aimed at securing their emergency water supply and improving accessibility to cultural and social infrastructure, such as upgrading disability access to the Broomehill Sporting Complex.

The shires of Esperance and Jerramungup plan to use their funding to improve strategic water supplies, such as the Grass Patch community dam, the Boxwood Hill community dam and improved water storage facilities. In Kulin, funding will allow improvements to the local aquatic centre, for its continued enjoyment by all ages, and the installation of a projector and large screen at the Freebairn Recreation Centre for community events. Lake Grace—a shire well known for its vivid wildflowers—will use part of their funding to enhance this attraction through the creation of new community walking trails and interpretive wildflower signage. Improvements to the main street are underway in Pingelly, preserving the community's heritage and offering a vibrant central space for local business to thrive where the community can gather. The community of Mount Barker will benefit from upgrades to the local pool, bringing welcome relief for residents as the weather starts to warm up. The Shire of Ravensthorpe will also use these funds to improve the town's aesthetics and improve access to public facilities. All these projects, whether focused on sporting or community infrastructure, bolstering local tourist attractions, preserving a community's heritage or improving water infrastructure and security are all integral aspects that make regional towns such a wonderful place to live.

Drought is nobody's friend. It wreaks havoc on regional communities, often for prolonged periods. It brings with it uncertainty, despair, financial hardship and a blow to community spirit. When drought escalates, so does the government's response. As set out in our Drought in Australia:Australian government drought response, resilience and preparedness plan. The Morrison government is here for our rural and regional communities who are doing it tough through drought. We'll be here to support them for as long as it takes through dedicated initiatives, such as the Drought Communities Program extension.

I want to contrast the Morrison government's response with the Western Australia government's response, in particular on the water infrastructure rebate scheme. Western Australia received $5 million through this program, which was oversubscribed by nearly double. The Western Australian government not only did not put a cent into this particular program, they charged the Commonwealth government $500,000—or, 10 per cent of the fund—to administer it. The Commonwealth has gone back in and offered another $5 million on the basis that the Western Australian government match that funding and they are refusing to do so. So I do want to draw the attention of the House to this absolutely despicable decision by the Western Australia government to ignore our farmers, who are doing it tough for the second very dry season in a row.