Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Flynn for his question. He comes from the great state of Queensland, where two-thirds of the state is impacted by drought. In New South Wales, 95 per cent of the state is impacted by drought. We've had droughts before. We had the Federation drought, we had a significant drought during the Second World War and we had the millennium drought in the 2000s. But I had the privilege to go with the member for Maranoa to Inverell, in the member for New England's seat, as well as to Stanthorpe and Warwick, in the member for Maranoa's seat, and, when we met with the farmers and the families who are affected by this drought, they told us that this is the worst drought in living memory. That is why this government is standing by them. We met Dino in Stanthorpe, who is an apple orchardist who has to truck in 100 loads of water each week, at a cost of around $40,000, and has had to pull 10,000 trees out of the ground just to keep the sustainability of his orchard.

The support that we are providing to the drought-stricken areas is in three parts, as the Prime Minister outlined. Firstly, it's the direct income support, the farm household allowance, which we have lifted and for which we have reduced significantly the red-tape burden. Secondly, it's the support for the communities, the support that we are giving the local government areas through the Drought Communities Program. This money is able to be spent with local tradies who are updating the stables at the rodeo areas or upgrading the cricketing pavilion—and we heard one story where they put up a fence to prevent the kangaroos coming onto the airport. All of this is just creating jobs in an area which is doing it really tough.

We've also put more money into financial counsellors, to provide the support to people who need it, as well as mental health support, which is critical at this time. There's also the water infrastructure. We are going to have a $5 billion Future Drought Fund which will be providing $100 million a year from mid-next year. Most recently, there was the announcement by the Prime Minister, with the Premier of New South Wales, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the National Party in New South Wales, of a joint commitment to $1 billion for water infrastructure, to help ensure the future viability of these communities.

Dorothea Mackellar spoke about a sunburnt country of droughts and flooding rains. She spoke for all of us. But what we need to do is continue to provide the support to the people who need it most, in the drought-stricken communities across our great country. (Time expired)

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