Wednesday, 18 June 2025

Motions

Drought

Debate resumed.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:02): I rise to continue my contribution on what is an important motion that has been brought before us today by Mrs Tyrrell. In fact Mrs Tyrrell, Dr Heath and I have just run into the chamber from an event over the lunchbreak – a very, very valuable event it was as well. I do wish to continue my remarks on what we are here to discuss today – the motion on drought relief – and I will reiterate the importance of the supports which have already been announced. As I touched on earlier, we have seen $37.7 million committed to the on-farm drought infrastructure grant program, ensuring that farmers right across the state will be able to access those grants of up to $5000 to support those long-term security improvements that will help to make their farms all the more resilient.

I will briefly deviate to comment and welcome Minister Tierney’s remarks in her ministers statement during question time, with her very strong stance on water buybacks. I note the former water minister in the chamber was also passionate in speaking up for our regional Victorian communities on this issue. We know that whilst the preservation of our environment, indeed the downstream environment, is very important, Victoria has already done what I would say its fair share, but it is probably fair to say much more than its fair share, in these projects, whether it is for the broader system or whether it is for those projects in Victoria. If you look at the projects we have done to preserve the water in the systems in the Goulburn or the Ovens, which have a river, or the Murray itself, Victoria has already done more than perhaps any other state in the Murray–Darling Basin by some measure.

I am very glad that our government has been steadfastly resolute under both the former minister and the current minister. The new minister in fact reiterated at the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee that there is absolutely no support for water buybacks under this state Labor government, because we know the impact that it can have on our farming communities and on the broader regional economies in centres. And indeed – I probably do not need to say this to Mrs Tyrrell – in communities like hers where she lives, the impact that it has is not just on the farmers themselves, it is on everything. Speaking as someone who has relatives – relatively speaking from Melbourne – not too far away, but a fair distance from Mrs Tyrrell still, who were for a time farming and are now doing other things in one of our very important regional communities in the north, I have seen from their perspective the importance of one small thing and how it can have such a profound impact, and in those regional communities especially so. It was very good and I was very heartened to hear the strong words of Minister Tierney today in opposing those buybacks but also in taking that up to the Commonwealth and being very clear with Victoria’s position.

There have been a number of statewide improvements, whether it has been to irrigation channels or other measures, over the years. Again, those all lead to that work that I was mentioning that has put Victoria at the forefront of saving and supporting and securing those precious water resources. It was Mr Bourman in his contribution who spoke of the famous lines from the poem, we are a land ‘of droughts and flooding rains’, and it is the cruellest of cruel ironies that while so many in our state have been suffering through drought, we have seen parts of the country just one state to our north experiencing record floodwaters. The works such as supporting those irrigation channels, whether it is those major pieces of investment that have been undertaken in this state or whether it is the smaller scale projects too, such as the on-farm drought infrastructure grants, they all play a role in preserving that resource, because some years it is all too abundant and other years it is far too scarce. That is why measures such as this are important not just for supporting our farmers in the interim and in the current situation but for protecting those resources and giving that bit of extra stability and support for our farmers into the future.

But there are other measures as well that that need to be taken and that in many cases already are being taken, because for all the value and the very significant importance that these grants will have, they do not of course make it rain more right now and you cannot build a retrospective bit of infrastructure on your property. But what we have seen is there are a number of other supports as well. I note some colleagues have already discussed some of the significant mental health supports that have been extended and rolled out in place. Again I note the importance of us dealing with those questions respectfully and not in a way that is in any way trying to inflame or otherwise misrepresent a situation. It is very important that when we are speaking of these things in communities that are so often stoic and reserved and proud – and rightly proud – we are ensuring that wherever we can, we provide those mental health supports. And for all that we can do, so much of that needs to come from each other and looking out for each other. There are many other things I would like to talk to you about, but I believe my time is about to or has expired. I will leave my remarks there.

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (14:09): I also rise to give my full support to motion 971 in Mrs Tyrrell’s name, and I really thank her for bringing it. Victoria is currently facing some of the worst drought conditions in decades, and we are facing some of the lowest rainfall totals on record. Many farmers have told me that they just did not see this coming. The information they were given by the Bureau of Meteorology was just not adequate, and they were really caught off guard and unable to plan, and there are a lot of government regulations that have not allowed them to do what they need to do with water on their own land. The stress and the pressure that they are under is just enormous. Many farmers across Gippsland are out of water and hundreds more are close to it. Recent rainfall, they tell me, is helping their wellbeing and mental health, but there is a very, very long way to go before empty dams are full and before farmers will not have to spend their whole day carting water into their farm or across to different areas of their farm. They are facing just terrible situations where they have to make really difficult decisions when it comes to their livestock. Farmers are exhausted, and there is a lot of additional work that is going on at the moment. Fodder is extremely hard to get, and the price is through the roof just because of how scarce it is. We do urgently need subsidies for water and crops and livestock, relief from energy costs, help transporting water and fodder, rate relief and mental health support.

I want to refer to an email I got from somebody from GippsDairy just last week who says that:

[QUOTE AWAITING VERIFICATION]

At least 120 farms that we are connected to are extremely concerned about the dry conditions, and for every one of those there would be a couple more who have not reached out because they are struggling.

She said:

I would be comfortable saying that for every farmer we have seen, there is one more that we have not, so you can safely double the numbers that I have just quoted and that will give you a good indication of farmers that are under extreme pressure.

Feedback from farmers from different events that have been held – one that I attended in Inverloch and another in Drouin – is that these are some of the things that they are really seeking help on: support for cow parking, which is having available farms with water and fodder host cows for a period of time; lists of contractors who can help with digging dams, carting water and drilling bores; and available water supply points as close as possible to each farm that is out of water. They also ask for mental health support, for help in finding fodder availability; weekly updates from the Bureau of Meteorology; events to help farmers keep connected and access to farm household allowances, because there are too many barriers to accessing this.

Long-range weather forecasts at the moment are not offering farmers any help or much reprieve, and we need to be able to figure out how it is we can get through this next period. I spoke last week about when I was at a meeting a few weeks ago with a farmer – actually 65 farmers, but one of the farmers said, ‘If we do not get significant rainfall I just do not know what will happen to us.’

I do want to speak in the last 2 minutes that I have left on the Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund. This has been absolutely detrimental to the mental health and wellbeing of farmers. A few people on this side of the chamber and the crossbench have raised it and have been accused of politicising an issue by the other side. There has been all sorts of shouting and saying that we are politicising an issue. I want to say that we absolutely are not politicising issues by giving farmers a voice. Our job in here is to give the communities that we represent a voice, and this has been something that has been catastrophic to their mental health and their forward planning. Everyone is thankful that they are not going to have to look at this for another year, but it needs to be scrapped altogether, because this is something that the farmers and the people that really are the lifeblood of our community have hanging over their heads, they are so stressed about it and they really need significant help. Thank you, Rikkie-Lee, for bringing this motion to the house. I strongly support it.

Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) incorporated the following:

The Greens are happy to stand in support of this motion today. While it was only a few weeks ago that I spoke to Mrs McArthur’s motion on the drought facing Western Victoria, and I have previously spoken about the drought that has been affecting that region for 18 months now, the reality for farmers across this state is of increasing concern. And so it’s essential that this issue is brought to Spring St whenever possible. I commend Mrs Tyrrell for introducing this motion today.

Last week may have brought some rain to rural communities, and with it some relief, but the future remains uncertain for many. That’s because it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the frequency and intensity of these dry periods are growing.

The latest State of the Climate report from the CSIRO confirmed what is already obvious to many – that Australia’s climate continues to warm. This warming has led to an increase in extreme heat events over land and in our oceans, meaning that while in some parts of Australia like the east coast, intense rainfall events are increasing, in most the average annual rainfall is decreasing bringing with it more frequent and prolonged drought. In fact the drying trend currently being observed in southern Australia is the most sustained large-scale change in rainfall since the late 1880s.

For people on the ground, for our primary producers, our farmers, less predictable rainfall invariably means less certainty about crop yield, less certainty about daily on-farm costs and inevitably, less certainty about income and financial security.

But it’s not only the bank accounts of our farmers that are insecure. When farmers produce less year on year there are significant questions to be asked about our food security more broadly. 

At present our food supply chain is incredibly vulnerable to unforeseen shocks and stressors. In 2023 the Climate Council estimated that there was less than five days of perishable food in the supply chain at any one time.

And yet Victoria’s food system is no stranger to disruptive shocks. In 2022 high rainfall and flooding decimated many summer crops and food prices spiked as a result. Now with drought conditions extending for over 12 months, meat prices are set to increase and broadacre crops such as wheat are at risk of failure.

This places significant strain on farming communities but the strain can also be felt across Victoria. More and more Victorians are struggling to afford food. They’re being forced to skip meals, to go without fresh food, and raid their savings just to pay for essentials.

It is therefore absolutely critical for all Victorians that the government implements a holistic strategy to secure our food supply.

While there are some things that individual consumers can do to support the supply chain, like shopping local and in season, what is needed now more than ever is whole-of-government leadership to ensure the security of our food systems for decades to come, and with a particular focus on the impacts of climate change.

This could include having systems in place to implement hardship funding, such as that provided by the then Premier Daniel Andrews in 2019 and being advocated for by Mrs Tyrrell again today. This is important to keep our farming communities going through tough times.

It could also look like securing our green wedges on the urban fringe, such as the highly productive and important Werribee green wedge, and investing in small-scale regional and urban farming, something that is much more common in European countries but seen as somewhat boutique here, so that we have a diversity in this state when it comes to where we are getting our food from.

My heart goes out to all rural communities in this time of uncertainty and drought, and I implore the government to do more to proactively support our food system, especially the people who grow it. 

Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (14:14): First, I would like to thank my colleagues for their contributions today. Before I close I want to return to the simple truth that has guided this motion from the start: this is about people – real people – not statistics, not sectors, but families who are barely holding on through the worst drought conditions in decades. We cannot ignore their pain, their exhaustion or the generational scars drought leaves behind, as I have personally experienced, and we must not delay. Relief must be real, it must be immediate, and it must reflect the urgency of what our farming communities are facing today. I ask this house once more to stand with our farmers, support this motion and let us show all Victorians, especially those in the regions, that we are here for them when it matters most.

Motion agreed to.