NORTH-EAST PASTORAL DISTRICT

The Hon. G.M. GUNN (Stuart) (15:24): My question is directed to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. What action is he taking to assist constituents of mine in the north-east pastoral district of this state to ship out their stock due to the exceptional damage caused by the dust storm a few weeks ago?

The minister would be aware that people in Sydney complained about the dust, but they only had a bit of inconvenience. My constituents in the north-east of the state have had their ability to make a reasonable livelihood drastically affected, and they have to get rid of the stock so they can be agisted in other parts of the state. Many of them are in financial difficulty, and I ask: what assistance can the minister provide to these people?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development) (15:25): I thank the member for Stuart for his question and acknowledge the outstanding work he has done in representing his constituents over many, many years. One of the difficulties we have had to date, and certainly in the reports that I have been receiving, is assessing the total damage and, importantly, the specific damage that has occurred on some of the properties. The information we are gathering is accumulating each day.

The anecdotal evidence to date has indicated a range of damage to pastoral properties and livelihoods of those affected by the dust storm in the upper north-east area, although, to date, as I mentioned, the objective information has been difficult to collect.

PIRSA has been working closely with the relevant contacts, and that has included the South Australian Farmers Federation. I noticed their comments in the paper today. In fact, we have been seeking information from them and they are using their resources as best they can, so I was a bit confused by Peter White's comments, or certainly found them curious.

We have also been working with the northern regional drought task force, the SA Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board, the Pastoral Board, the Outback Areas Community Development Trust, the Rural Financial Counselling Service and various other government agencies to assess the level of damage to enterprises. A survey has been sent to all pastoralists to assess the levels of damage, and responses are currently being collated.

Both the South Australian drought assistance measures and provisions under the NDRRA are aligned with the nationally agreed policies in this area. The provisions of the New South Wales Rural Assistance Authority and the National Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements are very similar to the EC interest rate subsidy arrangements that, as I understand it, many of the member for Stuart's constituents are already in receipt of.

South Australia, for decades, has aligned its policy with the national assistance policy and avoids, wherever possible, the use of market-distorting programs such as subsidies for transport, fodder and payment for water. Again, the member would be aware of that.

Since this area is in an EC-declared area, we could offer (and this is what we are looking at) to extend the planning for recovery grant, even to those without the ECIRS approval, and this would support the preparation of a business plan, plus a grant to implement the plan.

I can say to the member for Stuart that I look forward to working with him and feeding the information that he has into the processes that we have in place to ensure that we are able to provide whatever practical assistance we can for, amongst other things, the agistment of stock, if that is what is required. If there is any other practical way to assist those pastoralists who have done it very hard over the last several years, the government will do whatever it can to support people in that region.