Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on what is fast becoming a forgotten matter: the drought in South Australia. Yes, we welcome the rains that have fallen across many of the agricultural zones and even parts of the pastoral zone. But we cannot forget those pastoralists who were forced to cut down their herds, even their breeding stock, and now have nothing left. Nor can we forget the grain growers drowning in debt or, the most tragic of all, those farmers and workers who have taken their lives. Their hardship does not vanish with a single downpour. The lessons of every drought are the same. When the rain arrives, the headlines fade, the noise dies down and the hard policy work is left undone, and, once again, we are then unprepared for the next dry spell.

Farmers fuel, feed and clothe this nation, yet Labor's response to the worst drought in living history, in my area, has been weak if not absent altogether. Added to this are the damaging policies, like taxing unrealised capital gains on superannuation and subsidised RIC loans that cost more than loans from a commercial bank. What use is that? It is clear that this government does not respect regional Australians or farmers.

I thank the volunteers on the rapid response team for the hay runs into communities like Streaky Bay and Jamestown. They're a true testament to the generosity of regional Australians.

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