Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Water is, of course, the key to life for farmers in my region and all across Australia. We have seen how fortunes can turn when a little bit of rain comes and how dire things can get when we struggle through those years of dry. I was out at FarmFest just last week and it was fantastic. I was speaking to a supplier of heavy farm machinery and farm equipment. They've been going to FarmFest for nearly 10 years and this was the first time that they had seen a cheque at FarmFest. It was the first time that someone had actually stumped up and purchased a piece of equipment at FarmFest. I think that's a testament to the luck we have at the moment and the good fortune we have in our regions. We had that bit of rain and that has given us a good crop. But we don't forget how difficult it can be in those dry years. In those dry years government assistance is crucial in preventing mum and dad operations from going under due to circumstances out of their control.

Again, I would point out, in my region, that in talking at FarmFest with a lot of local farmers it's easy to forget that these are largely family-run operations. They are 700-acre soldier settlement blocks that were populated after the First World War, and then the Second World War, in my region. They're small blocks of land. They aren't giant multinationals. These are families who run their farms, who support the local communities, who send their kids to the local schools, whose use of the local medical facilities is so important to keeping these communities viable. This is what the farm household allowance is for—supporting farmers to stay on the land and producing some of the best food and fibre in the world. I remember going to supermarkets during my time in the UK and seeing New Zealand lamb being such a big thing in UK supermarkets. Now, isn't it great to hear, with the FTA with the UK, that we could maybe see Australian beef taking the same sort of status amongst UK shoppers. So it is so important that we take advantage of this and that we're there for our farmers during this opportunity.

The policy we're discussing today is one of the final elements of what we are calling a radical simplification of the FHA. It's a result of the 2018 independent farmer-led review, a review that farmers in my region were very vocal in as they experienced a tipping point to desperation after years of unrelenting drought. It has been drought after drought. We talk about the difficulties that the most recent droughts presented. I remember being out at Dalby looking at the cracks in that beautiful black soil out there that you could easily step ankle deep into. I remember the last big drought. I was down in Parkes in 2003 watching those tremendous dust storms roll in, the giant red clouds that came in and eventually went across Sydney and provided us with those amazing images at the time. We must remember that this is a cycle that will continue. It always has been here and always will be. We need to adapt to it and provide our farmers with the best possible support for it.

The Farm Household Support Amendment (Debt Waiver) Bill 2021 recognises that farm income, like the weather it's based upon, is volatile. It's based on uncertain yields and prices, and that very unpredictable Australian weather. Under previous arrangements we asked farmers to make very difficult predictions about their farm income for the year ahead. With so many factors to take in you would need a crystal ball to get this estimate correct. Of course farms take risks on this; they do. They purchase equipment. They sow crops. They prepare for opportunities. But that is a risk they're willing to take for their business, and that is what we encourage. What we shouldn't be doing is asking them to take risks that would bring them into debt through the FHA. It is wonderful to see the opposition so heartily in agreement that this is something very important that we can support our farmers with.

When farmers acting in good faith get their predictions wrong, the business income reconciliation process is the mechanism that would put them into debt. Fundamentally I think we can all agree this isn't fair. This is a process of adding more stress to farmers who are already pushed to the brink. In this day and age we understand the challenges that these conditions provide to our mental health when we see groups like RU OK? or Are you bogged mate?—another great initiative out talking to farmers about their mental health. We understand that there are stresses involved here, and it's not fair that we add to them.

One of the great challenges with farming—and I speak as someone who is the first in my line not to be born and raised on a farm, but I understand the challenges my family faced in this—is dealing with good times and bad times. In good times, the idea is that you put money away; you invest and build up. In bad times you see it through as best you can. This bill recognises that in bad times we've asked farmers to accumulate debt, and that's wrong. It was wrong and it was unfair, and the bill that we're discussing today addresses that; I think it's a very important step. In those good times, we need our farmers to invest, to build and to grow—to take advantage of opportunities like the FTA with the UK. It's a very important thing for us to do to support them in that. I think that very much speaks to the essence, certainly, of my side of politics, and I think it speaks more broadly to the Australian sense of a fair go.

This bill addresses historical debts and will give debt relief to up to 5,300 farmers. It will allow the minority of people who are owed a top-up payment to receive it and it will also maintain the FHA as a time-limited payment, with farmers and their partners eligible to receive the allowance for four years in every 10. I was always brought up with the understanding that we had seven-year cycles—that was a good rule of thumb—and that drought needed to be seen for that amount of time. I think it's important that we have a cap on this, but also recognise the weight that a prolonged drought can bring.

This bill will draw a line under a complicated process and ensure that recovery from drought, floods, bushfires and COVID-19 is not made harder for the small number of farmers who still have to repay their debts, those who have received another full year of payment for each BIR debt. There will still be options on the table, including payment plans to assist them in repaying their debt. This is to prevent double dipping and will ensure that no-one is entitled to more than the 1,460 days of farm household allowance. Again, we're making sure that this is very fair and can be applied across the industry as best as possible. This further strengthens fairness in the system and ensures it can continue to support farming families into the future. It's very difficult for us to acknowledge that there will be future droughts, but of course there will be. We have to look forward to those and understand they're something we can address. We can find ways to work through them and to support our farmers through them.

This is very important, because this particular drought isn't over yet, especially in Queensland. As of 1 May, there were a total of 37 councils and three part-council areas which were drought declared, including the Toowoomba Regional Council, which overlaps almost directly with my electorate. It's very hard to get the feeling that we are in drought when driving through the Toowoomba region. Quite frankly, the country is looking absolutely spectacular—either coming up from the Lockyer Valley and seeing the beautiful green hills and the green cityscape or coming in from Dalby, looking at all the wonderful winter crops out through the fields. You get the understanding that things are happening, that it's a good time in our industry and that there's a sense of hope and optimism which comes with that rain. But it's still very much a green drought. With all the rain that we had recently, Lake Cooby Dam, one of our local dams, is still only at 31 per cent; before the rain it was at 30 per cent. So we're still in a situation where water is scarce; we're still going to have to work very hard to see our way through over the next couple of years, and we're certainly not through the drought. If anything, the water that we've had has put a little bit of moisture into the soil after long years of it being pulled out, but we certainly aren't into a situation now where we're in the clear. We have a long way to go and we need to recognise that.

These drought declarations represent 65 per cent of the total land area of Queensland. That's a significant area. There are also 23 individual droughted properties in a further seven local government areas which are struggling. To all those farmers in those areas: this is a directly applicable bill that we're moving here today. I want those who are still waiting for rain to know that this government is committed to supporting them, both through this drought and into future droughts—as we will through other natural disasters. Simplifying this FHA process is one very commonsense, fair and sensible step that we can take to ensure that we stand with our farmers. The FHA will continue to put money on the table when times are tough, allowing farmers to consider the right course of action for their business.

I think there are broader implications of this that are worth acknowledging, particularly for a place like Toowoomba, which is a hub for regional education and regional health services. These farming families come into Toowoomba—they always have and they always will—to send their children to school. I've spoken to several Toowoomba private school headmasters who are very used to having to deal with farming families through very tough years. They know they can't ask mum and dad to put the fees on the table that year, because they simply don't have them, but they also know that, when the good times come, those fees will be paid and the debts will be cleared. In a place like Toowoomba, we need to ensure that those farming families continue to come in, because it's the accumulated use of those services which makes our services so good. Our medical facilities, too, rely upon the patronage of a wide area of south-western Queensland—and northern New South Wales, for that matter. They rely on people coming to Toowoomba to seek the exceptional health care that is on offer there. Every step that we can take to reduce the burden on those farming families is something that we will feel on a much broader scale.

The final point I'll make is that the timing of this could not be better. This is probably the first year since 2016 when farmers in my region not only have experienced a good summer crop but have seen it followed up by a winter crop. This is an exceptional time for us. It's a time of hope and prosperity, and it's a great opportunity for both sides of the House to stand united with farmers and show them that we are there, we do support them and we will continue to support them.

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