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

Well, let me reassure farmers who are on our farm household allowance—which is not just a drought payment; it's actually for farmers in hardship—we are standing with you. We are not cutting you off. This is a time limited payment—as also endorsed by the National Farmers Federation's own drought strategy; they also believe that it should be a time-limited payment—which is why we've got this additional response, in the ability to create lump sum payments as the drought continues, and we will do that. But if you are a farmer who has been assessed and is ineligible for farm household allowance, despite the changes we're making to off-farm and on-farm income and asset changes et cetera, then we do have a loan facility, through the RIC, of up to $2 million, interest free and repayment free for two years, and then interest only until year five, which is—