Drought Assistance

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Frome) (15:11): I was going to ask a supplementary of the Minister for Primary Industries but unfortunately I did not get in quick enough. Minister, further to the member for Flinders' question to you about drought assistance, the Port Pirie Regional Council, for argument's sake, never got anything and other areas such as Quorn and Peterborough never got anything. As the minister, are you going to lobby for those councils to get some assistance?

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE (Chaffey—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:12): I thank the member for his important question. There are some councils that are aggrieved that they didn't get the $1 million. The assessment that the federal government used was the last two years of rainfall as well as a ratio of how reliant those communities are on agriculture. I am going to—

Mr Hughes interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Giles, you can leave for 15 minutes under 137A.

The honourable member for Giles having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: To the member for Frome, this is a fluid negotiation. When the Deputy Premier and I got to Canberra, there were 60 councils across the nation that had received support—this $1 million per council. We on this side of the house, with the federal government, negotiated—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —an extra 21 council areas. So this is a fluid conversation. We will continue to lobby the federal government to make sure—

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Light!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —that all of our councils that are impacted by drought are given the support that we can address.