Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

It's incredibly important, because it will rain again. And when the rains do come, we want our farmers in drought-affected areas, such as your home state of New South Wales, to be able to get back on their feet, restock quickly, replant quickly and continue to grow that produce and those exports to the world. That's why it's fantastic that, in the Senate today, parliament passed the Future Drought Fund as part of our more than $7 billion drought response for rural and regional communities. It's delivering ongoing, immediate and future responses to assist with overcoming the impact of droughts.

But for all the posturing from elected leaders about the need to support drought affected farmers, only the Liberal-National government steps up when it counts. Prior to the last election, the Greens announced an agriculture policy with $100 million worth of support for drought affected communities each year. It said, 'We need a plan for agriculture that looks beyond the next election cycle.' Well, they had the chance to vote for it today, and they rejected that.