John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In just over a month, on 31 March, much of western New South Wales—my electorate and others—the most drought-affected area in the whole of Australia over the last eight years or so, comes to the end of its current exceptional circumstances declaration.

In November last year, the Rural Advisory Council was ordered by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to do a survey of the region to determine whether or not it would remain in exceptional circumstances after March of this year. I hope that the minister will not unilaterally cancel that; there has been a bit of rain around. I do not see that he can unless he sends the committee out to have another look. I very much hope that we do not find, on a Friday evening when nobody is in parliament and when he hopes the media are not, that he will make an announcement regarding the cessation of exceptional circumstances in that region.

The situation has always been that, six weeks before exceptional circumstances are due to cease in an area, Centrelink sends out notices advising people. In times past, and I concede that it happened in our time too, people got a notice even though exceptional circumstances were going to continue. To his credit, the minister wanted to avoid that so he sent the committee out last year. But I must confess that I have concerns about some areas, like Parkes and part of Forbes, which did not have the big rain at Christmas time. They may have had good rain since, but it has not rained money, and it is not going to rain money ever, but it does create a lot of expense. Whether or not they have had rain, the central west and the far west are in a terrible situation. The cost of superphosphate is growing out of sight, crops are soon to be worked up and planted, and people need the assurance—as their banks do—that the interest rate subsidy, in particular, will continue in the near future. I think the minister needs to make his intentions known about whether he is reconsidering the situation. We believe he already has—and has since January—a recommendation from that committee. We need to know what decision he will make.

I also want to make quick reference to the health situation, particularly in my area in western New South Wales. Labor has totally bungled health. The Prime Minister made the statement prior to the last election:

When it comes to improving Australia’s health and hospital system, as Prime Minister if elected, the buck will stop with me.

He actually stated that by June 2009, some seven or eight months ago, he would have the hospital situation under control. There is also the fact that in New South Wales the Greater Western Area Health Service admitted that it does not have a health plan past 2010. We are the part of New South Wales, if not Australia, with the biggest problem. It is a huge health area with no local input into it and no plan. I must congratulate the Mayor of Bathurst, Paul Toole, for speaking out against the current situation: not enough money in GWAHS, too big a region, no local input into hospitals or the provision of health services and, for far too long, not enough money even to pay the bills for local health services. I call upon Kevin Rudd and the New South Wales government to create a plan to let western New South Wales know that it is not the poor person of health in Australia.