Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources around the dairy support program. Minister, there are over 100 dairy farm families who live in the valleys of the Kiewa, Upper Murray, Mitta Mitta, Ovens and King rivers. Up to 60 per cent, it is reported, are in need of assistance and 20 per cent are desperate. The government's emergency dairy support package promised a process of fast tracking household support allowances. But farmers in these valleys are reporting a delay of up to 20 weeks to get assistance. Will the Deputy Prime Minister please commit to holding a roundtable, preferably in my electorate, to review the process, to increase staff on the ground and to allocate additional resources to clear the backlog?

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