Tuesday, 10 September 2019

 Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (12:45): On a hot topic today, my question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Ms Symes. As one of her fellow members for Northern Victoria Region, I commend her for her decision to expedite a visit to the Millewa region last week to inspect the effects of the crippling, successive droughts there. The government has also recently announced that there is still financial support available for farmers through the on-farm drought infrastructure support grants and the pasture recovery and management grant program and that the application period for the farm business assistance program will now be extended. Following on from Ms Bath’s question, in that context—of money available—I ask the minister if she could provide me with a clarification on how much money is still available to assist those farmers in the Millewa region.

 Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Resources) (12:46): I thank Ms Maxwell for her slightly more empathetic question in relation to those doing it tough in the north of our state today. It was, as I said in my previous answer, a sobering but great visit to the Millewa to meet with farmers there. James O’Day was my host. Agriculture Victoria and the Victorian Farmers Federation were also with me, and a lot of people came out to talk to me about the conditions that they are suffering. Farmers in the north-west are incredibly resilient people. They are accustomed to failed seasons, but in facing a second failed season it was described to me as being worse than the 1940s drought that they had experienced. So it is without doubt that it is quite dire in the Millewa.

We are providing funds for farmers through the $5000 on-farm drought infrastructure support grants, and they have been extremely popular in this region, with around half of the farmers having accessed those. There are still more funds available for the grants, and I would encourage everyone to look at those. I can assure you that we have extended the application period. What happens in situations of drought like this is that people, when they are right in the midst of it, can sometimes find it difficult to access the services, so making sure that they are available when people can come up for air and think about their next steps is really important. So it was important to me to make sure that there is no cut-off date that is going to cut people out from accessing those.

As I was wanting to detail in greater detail on Ms Bath’s question, there is a lot of effort being dedicated to the north-west. We have had six workshops attended by over 60 farmers, and they have covered topics such as decision-making in dry conditions and financial planning. Agriculture Victoria are providing one-on-one consultations to provide tailored advice and ensure support and referral to the appropriate agency where issues are identified. The Rural Financial Counselling Service is providing support to both farm businesses and local businesses in the region as well. Of course we know that the impact of drought does not stop at the farm gate; there are businesses that are reliant on the productivity of our farmers.

Importantly we are wanting to make sure that the information is getting out there. When you are in a challenging time, sometimes it can be difficult to know what support is there, so we have mailed out a booklet which details all the support services that are available to farmers in the region along with the local community to ensure that everybody that needs support is directed to the appropriate place. Thank you for your question, Ms Maxwell. I can assure you that there are sufficient funds available to provide all of that support and the continuation of the grants that have been accessed by people in that region.

 Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (12:48): Thank you, Ms Symes, for your in-depth answer. As my supplementary question, and given the urgency and desperation of the current situation in the Millewa, I ask: has the minister made, or will the minister make, representations to her counterpart in Canberra, Minister Littleproud, to consider bringing forward potential federal government assistance? I ask this in light of the fact that farmers, including in the Millewa, are currently not able to access payments under the federal government’s flagship Future Drought Fund program until 1 July next year.

 Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Resources) (12:49): I thank Ms Maxwell for her supplementary question. I agree, I think it is critical that all levels of government play a part in supporting our farmers through drought and dry conditions. The number one issue that was actually raised by farmers in the Millewa last week with me was access to low-interest loans, and that is obviously a federal government program, which, it appears to me, is perhaps not exactly hitting the target that it needs to hit. Agriculture Victoria, working with the federal department, started those conversations. I have had an informal reach-out to Minister Littleproud, and we will connect when our departments have had some discussions about access to those loans and making sure that there are no barriers getting in the way.

In relation to the Future Drought Fund that the federal government continue to talk about, of course I would welcome that those funds be made available earlier. The Leader of the National Party, the Leader of the Liberal Party, Suzanna Sheed and the Premier have written to the Prime Minister asking for those funds to be made available earlier this year. I will continue to advocate for those funds to be made available.