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

I thank the senator for her question and for her interest in drought affected communities, and in regional Victoria in particular. The Drought Communities Program is an incredibly popular program, where $1 million is provided to over 122 councils across the country which are drought affected. It's been going for a couple of years and there have been three rounds thus far. It uses measurements such as rainfall and agricultural employment, amongst a raft of other measures, to determine eligibility. If councils are successful in attaining Drought Communities Program eligibility they can put forward projects to stimulate their local economy: anything from doing up the local hall to building a road. Some councils in South Australia have actually decided to employ drought support officers—yes, stimulating local employment but also making sure that that local community has a dedicated person to look after needs in the drought.

So it's been an incredibly popular program. We've expanded it, under our new drought response, to include an additional six councils—