John McVeigh (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy Speaker Gee, it's a great pleasure to stand and speak to this motion by you, the member for Calare, because this motion emphasises the commitment of the government to supporting our farming communities through this current drought. It emphasises, though, that the government is looking well beyond that to long-term resilience, certainly to provide immediate support but to look at ongoing support for Australian farmers, their families and their communities into the future. This is most certainly about better preparation and the ability to manage through droughts and of course to recover from them in the interests of farmers, their communities and their families into the long term.

Many in this chamber have been involved in debate about drought management over many, many years. Of course, we know that drought is a feature of the climate here in this great Australian continent and that drought is something that our regional communities have had to face up to time and time again over many generations. We continue to fine-tune and better direct support and policy into the future for the support of those communities so that they can prepare for and respond to the impact of drought. This government particularly wants to encourage self-reliance, more so than ever before, in farming communities, grazing communities, the organisations that support them—both from a government and non-government perspective—and, as I've said a number of times, those communities that make up regional Australia. So to look at an approach that is properly focused on the services of support, the research necessary in the long term and the adoption of technology—whether that be in water management, as some speakers have spoken about, or in crop management and livestock management—is as essential as the infrastructure that will support long-term sustainability for our regional communities.

A number of speakers, particularly the previous speakers on this side of the chamber, have spoken about the elements within the current government drought support program, farm household allowance; the support for investment allowances in terms of water infrastructure, feed and fodder provision; mental health support in various parts of the community; and the Drought Communities Program, which, as the member for Grey said earlier, is providing much-needed assistance through local governments in regional communities. This is a drought not only on the farm; it's also a drought on the main street of town. Again, the focus has been on preparedness as well as the immediate response challenge. We need to help those who need it but recognise, at the same time, as many of us have seen, that there are those who are unable to ask or don't feel they're in a position to ask. The minister for agriculture certainly encourages us always to make sure people are not self-assessing in terms of the support that's available but are putting their hand up and getting the assistance.

Previous speakers on this side of the House have emphasised that the funding program at present is up to $7 billion. That is a record amount. That is in stark contrast to what the Productivity Commission said all of those years ago in reviewing drought policy—to get away from just a reactionary approach to a preparedness approach. I've heard some comment about that. I've heard the comment about COAG. I profess to know a little bit about it because I was one of the state ministers who sat around the table at that time. I can confirm from the perspective as a regional member of this parliament that the current drought package and, more particularly now, the support going forward is breaking the mould. This is finally delivering what we need for regional communities around the country. It's not just about government response, obviously, and it's not just about industry response; the community response continues throughout the communities that we represent. I can mention so many people, but I mention most particularly my good mate Bill Manton, who runs drought fodder drives and support into western Queensland. He is doing a sterling job, as are so many people around the country who are truly interested in the fortunes of regional Australia.

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