In many parts of this country the drought has been ongoing. Many parts of western Queensland have had six or seven years of failed wet seasons in a row, and obviously that has an impact not just on the farm business but on the wider community. That’s why we on 1 August took the decision to extend our farm household payment assistance from a maximum of three years to four years to recognise the length and severity of the drought.
Senator WILLIAMS (New South Wales—Nationals Whip in the Senate) (14:51):
My question is to Senator Canavan, the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. Minister, how is the coalition government assisting farming households with help and support through one of the worst droughts over the past century?
Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:51):
I thank Senator Williams for his question. He is right to highlight that we are experiencing in Australia right now one of the worst droughts in our nation’s history. I’d also like to recognise that much of this drought is affecting Senator Williams’s part of the country in northern New South Wales, but many other parts of the country are also affected by the lack of rainfall—in some parts of the country over many years. The coalition government are focused on doing what we can to help those in a difficult situation that they find themselves in through no fault of their own. That is why we have provided substantial assistance to drought-affected families in the past few years and recently we’ve made further announcements which take our spending on relief for farming families to a total of $576 million.
In many parts of this country the drought has been ongoing. Many parts of western Queensland have had six or seven years of failed wet seasons in a row, and obviously that has an impact not just on the farm business but on the wider community. That’s why we on 1 August took the decision to extend our farm household payment assistance from a maximum of three years to four years to recognise the length and severity of the drought. At the same time, we announced that we would boost the payment under the family household assistance by a further $190 million, providing an extra $12,000 a year for eligible households. We’re also making changes to the assets test to allow more households to have access to this important relief in these hard times.
We recognise that there is increased demand under this drought and, with this additional assistance for rural financial counsellors, an extra $5 million will go to those services in these drought-affected communities.
The PRESIDENT:
Senator Williams, a supplementary question.
Senator WILLIAMS (New South Wales—Nationals Whip in the Senate) (14:53):
I thank the minister and I ask: what has the coalition government previously done to assist farming households and families?
Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:53):
As I said, we have provided assistance over many years as this drought has extended and lengthened in severity and time. Before announcing the packages we have just upgraded in the last month, we had provided over $850 million in concessional loans to the Regional Investment Corporation. That involves concessional loans both to drought-affected farmers and to farmers with hardship given changes to the dairy industry in Victoria. Nearly 1,600 farm businesses have now received concessional loans since the coalition came to office in 2013. We have provided $25.8 million to help manage pests, animals and weeds in drought-affected areas. It is very important in some areas—to bring sheep, particularly, back to a region—to have proper fencing to keep wild dogs out; that has been of enormous benefit. We have assisted communities with infrastructure programs as well, to provide wider employment across the community, not just to help those who have been affected on farms, but to help those in the towns and cities as well.
The PRESIDENT:
Senator Williams, a final supplementary question.
Senator WILLIAMS (New South Wales—Nationals Whip in the Senate) (14:54):
I ask the minister: how is the coalition government assisting farmers to plan ahead for future droughts?
Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:55):
As I mentioned, we have provided assistance to help farms respond to the threat of pests and weeds by improving fencing. We’ve also provided assistance for farms to put additional water on their properties. That can help their resilience in times of drought in the future. And, as part of the white paper—the first white paper for some time for the agricultural sector—a few years ago, we expanded and allowed more money to go into farm management deposits. These are deposits that help farmers put money away when times are good; they are then able to take it out when times are bad, without having to pay the extra burden of tax that would be associated with cyclical types of income. Today, thanks to the coalition’s changes, there is a record $6.6 billion sitting in farming management deposit accounts. I want to recognise the efforts of the agriculture minister as well, who has applied pressure to the major banks to allow a product that can allow FMDs to be offset against their other loans with the bank. That is helping the farming community enormously and making for a more resilient farming sector.
