Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my duty to update the parliament about the challenging seasonal conditions that are affecting parts of my electorate. My electorate of Mallee is 74,000 square kilometres and is one-third of the state of Victoria. In an average year we contribute $5.3 billion to the Australian economy. It would be fair to say that the people who work in my electorate are certainly not leaners—they are real lifters. They are hard working and they farm in some of the harshest environments. Those communities have built people of character in those difficult environments.

We have had our good years and our bad years, but this year unfortunately the season that had so much potential did not materialise to realise all that potential. I have a level of responsibility to update the Australian parliament. The seasonal conditions around Charlton, Whycheproof, Birchip, Donald, Quambatook, Nullawil, Watchem and Culgoa are very tough indeed. When farmers are not going to be able to realise a good harvest the impacts are not felt by the farmers alone; they are also felt by the rural communities—by the local seed grader, the agronomist, the shopkeepers, the local manufacturers, the farm employees and the truck drivers. I have a strong belief that when the land is hurting the people involved in land management hurt as well. It is almost spiritual.

People have raised with me that they are having difficulties filling in forms for farm household support payments. The forms are too long. Often the forms are online and time out before people have a chance to fill them in. We need to make that more streamlined. We also need to look at making sure that those involved in the agribusiness sector and service industries to agriculture are also eligible. This by no means is a handout to an industry that is not competitive and an industry that has no future. In fact, it is actually recognition that these communities contribute so much and that we need to stand by them if and when they have difficult times.

I think we need better investment in weather forecasting. Our farmers take up great technology and when we have good forecasting they use that information. We need a weather radar in the Wimmera. We have one in Mildura and one in Mt Gambier, but have we have a complete void. Real-time weather is not available. We need that technology.

A few moments ago I posted on Facebook that I was going to be talking about rural communities in the federal parliament. I wondered what response I would get. In less than two hours I have had 56 responses on my Facebook page. They keep saying, 'Can you please speak up about rural disadvantage: about not being able to make a mobile phone call and about the additional costs of sending our students to university?' They cannot get on a tram to go to university where they live or where I live. They have only one option and that is to travel and to live away from home. We need to be aware of that. We also need to reconfigure and encourage our young country kids to get higher education and get skills and to come back to our regional towns and use their skills and diversify our regional economies.

I am a strong believer that regional Australia is a great place to live. When you look at the whole wealth of Australia, when regional Australia is strong the whole country is strong. I take my responsibility of serving a rural electorate very seriously. I believe our best years are before us. Unfortunately, this season has not turned out to be the best one for us this year. I am updating the Australian parliament on the 2014 growing season and the challenges farmers and rural communities are facing at this time. It has been a disappointing season, but I am an optimist. I think it needs to be reported that the parliament will stand by these rural communities through the very difficult season that is before us and the financial challenges they will have over the coming months.