Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Services) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Williams, I can. Thank you very much for your advocacy for our agricultural communities. I do note that your home state of New South Wales is 100 per cent drought affected. This is one of the worst droughts affecting regional Australia in our history. I note that 70 per cent of Queensland has been drought affected for over six years, most critically in the western areas where 66 per cent of our national beef herd is sourced, but it has been moving south. Rainfall deficiencies have also increased in the agricultural districts of South Australia. Compared with other areas, for the January to October periods since 1900 year to date, rainfall has been the third lowest on record for the Murray-Darling Basin, the fourth lowest for New South Wales and the eighth lowest for Victoria.

We are committed, as a government, to standing with not just our farmers but the drought-affected communities. On 26 October, the Prime Minister, Mr Morrison, hosted a national drought summit. The national drought summit put our national leaders, key stakeholders and organisations together to talk about actions, deliver assistance, cut red tape and tackle the gaps that need addressing. It was a sign of the severity of the drought that each premier of our nation was actually there to stand with key stakeholders, regional communities and agricultural experts to look at how we best, as a nation, come together to address the drought.

When it comes to the Drought Communities Program, initially we had $75 million provided in initial support for $1 million for each of the 60 affected councils. As a result of the drought summit, and me reassessing the data, we've been able to extend that to another 21 councils, 17 of which are in South Australia. This is a program where local councils will use that $1 million to ensure that they not only employ locally for projects but, importantly, source the materials locally to keep small businesses alive and thriving in those affected communities.