Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

The changes I mentioned in response to the first question build on the assistance of government announced last year—a package of nearly $600 million, a $579 million dairy support package, which the government announced very shortly after it became evident that farmers were facing unexpectedly lower prices in the dairy sector. This package included $555 million of dairy recovery concessional loans, which provide loans at a rate of 2.47 per cent over 10 years—a very generous rate—to help dairy farmers get back on their feet. It involved providing $2 million for a milk commodity price index to improve transparency and predictability in the marketplace, and the government is also putting more resources into rural financial counselling.

As I mentioned earlier, it has been a very difficult period for our dairy sector, but the government has responded to those concerns and done all we can to help and support our farmers in the dairy industry, which, as the senator said, is a very important industry in our country.