Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

As I said, we have provided assistance over many years as this drought has extended and lengthened in severity and time. Before announcing the packages we have just upgraded in the last month, we had provided over $850 million in concessional loans to the Regional Investment Corporation. That involves concessional loans both to drought-affected farmers and to farmers with hardship given changes to the dairy industry in Victoria. Nearly 1,600 farm businesses have now received concessional loans since the coalition came to office in 2013. We have provided $25.8 million to help manage pests, animals and weeds in drought-affected areas. It is very important in some areas—to bring sheep, particularly, back to a region—to have proper fencing to keep wild dogs out; that has been of enormous benefit. We have assisted communities with infrastructure programs as well, to provide wider employment across the community, not just to help those who have been affected on farms, but to help those in the towns and cities as well.