Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Barker for his question. I was pleased to be out at Murray Bridge with him just on the weekend, visiting with a wonderful small family business producing tomatoes with hydroponics. They have been making a huge investment in their future and for their family's future. We are all about small family businesses, so to be able to back them in with lower taxes, the instant asset write-off and all of the other taxation based support that enables those businesses get in and make investments to provide for their future and employ Australians, I think, is a tremendous credit to them.

The National Drought Summit will be held on 26 October, bringing together people from all around the country to ensure that we better coordinate efforts—including the special envoy, including the ministers—and to ensure we are properly coordinating our response, including the situation update and program update that will be provided by Major General Stephen Day, the Coordinator-General for Drought.

The government has already provided $1.8 billion in additional support to drought-affected farmers and communities. Importantly, that includes the announcement we made which gives a million dollars to every single drought-affected council and shire across the country, ensuring that those towns are able to work their way through the drought.

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