Wednesday, 18 June 2025

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:38): (1641) My question is to the Minister for Agriculture and relates to the crippling drought. On 15 May the government announced an expanded on-farm infrastructure grants program for drought-affected primary producers in Bass Coast, Baw Baw, Cardinia, South Gippsland other LGAs. Five weeks on, the grant is not open. My farmers are barred from accessing these grants due to your department’s tardiness. Dollar-for-dollar grants are, as one resident rightly put it, like adding a bandaid to a severed artery. However, it is an insult that they have been announced yet are not available. With no grass, no fodder and dry dams, farmers and the Nationals are screaming for fodder and water cartage subsidies. Rural financial counsellors are being inundated with farmers suffering mental and financial distress. Latrobe LGA farmers are doing it tough and need help. Delaying these grants is doubly punishing farmers. Minister, will you immediately open these grants and provide drought-impacted farmers with relief?