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

One important aspect of any response to drought is being able to provide farmers with the financial ability to protect their businesses over the cycle, to make sure they have an ability to put away in good times and to be able to draw on that in not-so-good times, as we see at the moment. The farm management deposits scheme is a key mechanism of the government to be able to provide that support. It allows farmers to put away money in a tax protected vehicle during good years and then to withdraw that money when they may not have as much income in times like those we see now. It is a great message, a great news story, that as at June this year there was a record amount of funding in farm management deposits, $6.6 billion. It has helped farmers prepare for this drought in ways that they may not have been able to in previous years. That is partly the result of the government lifting the amount that farmers can put into farm management deposits up to $800,000. Our farm sector are very resilient; they do prepare for these droughts. Sometimes, however, a natural disaster overcomes any individual's preparedness.