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

I wish to update the House on the seasonal conditions around the Wimmera and the Mallee. The electorate of Mallee is one-third of the state of Victoria, and the season has been quite varied. Certainly around the Millewa and the northern Mallee we have had good opening rains, and in the south of the electorate we have also had some rain. In the middle, though, the electorate remains immensely dry. Our farmers are sowing on hope as they put their crops in the ground. We have of course a winter based rainfall and are reliant upon good rains, but there is a great deal of concern about the seasonal conditions at the moment.

One of those great concerns is that farmers are currently unable to turn on and listen to the ABC and get reports from the Bureau of Meteorology. At this time the Bureau of Meteorology is choosing to have industrial action and is attempting to use ABC as a means, a platform, to raise their concerns about their industrial reaction. I appeal to the Bureau of Meteorology and the ABC to get their act together. We have farmers who are sowing crops who need to be able to listen to the weather, need to be able to hear what fronts are coming through, and I think it is an appalling use of a medium if the bureau is attempting to use the ABC to further their industrial action.