Drought
Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (15:20): Well, what a delightful winter break we have had. Up in the north of the state we have seen decent snowfalls in the east and bleak skies bringing freezing cold and rain across the rest of the northern Victoria region. Although this beautiful winter weather has greened up the ground, it is still sparse. If anyone with a keen eye for crop production takes a look, the ground cover is thin and stunted. Unfortunately, our Premier may need to adjust her focus and take a closer look at the paddocks surrounding Bendigo to realise that we are still in drought conditions, with minimal feed and crop production as we work our way towards spring. Her $1000 food and grocery support payment to drought-affected farming households was only a third of what was unanimously agreed upon in this house as a reasonable assistance package to our farming families. I hope to see the rest follow soon to help those who feed this state.