Drought Assistance

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): My question is to the Premier. What is the full level of support that the government will provide to farmers across South Australia?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:24): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. We have got a package—I want to answer to the question in a short form and then I will extrapolate the answer so as to satisfy the opposition that I'm not seeking to avoid it. Currently, there is obviously an $18 million package that the government announced some time in the lead-up to Christmas, in conjunction with myself, the Treasurer and the Minister for Primary Industries. But we are on the record as saying—and I am happy to reiterate here today—that this government is turning its mind to additional support.

We are in the process of developing a budget. There are a range of calls on the budget, as is the case every year, and we are looking at the budget settings. We see that the federal government is handing down its budget next week. That will give the state government an even greater degree of clarity and visibility in terms of our budget position to inform decisions that we may make.

What I would say is that this morning, as it turns out—so last week we convened, and in fact, it might have been the week before last, but we convened an emergency management council meeting. The Deputy Premier and I spoke about the necessity for a consolidated effort within government to look at all the ramifications of the extraordinary hot and dry conditions. The main focus of the EMC meeting today was two things: the impact of drought on the agricultural sector and also the implications around water security for the state and what actions the government needs to take in that regard.

I was very grateful for the advice and the presentation that we received from PIRSA with respect to the very subject that the Leader of the Opposition refers, along with contributions from Treasury officials in assessing where the state is at in relation to other drought packages that we have seen in the past. What I would say is that in the presentation received from PIRSA it is very clear, if you look at the immediate 12 months to where we are now, that in many parts of the state—not all, but in many parts of the state—we have seen the driest 12 months we have ever seen since records have been kept. Places like the Yorke Peninsula, parts of the Eyre Peninsula, but not exclusively there. We see that, in terms of general dryness, it's really throughout the state, including even in the South-East, where members who are far more close to those communities than I am will be able to attest to the fact that we are seeing some unusually dry conditions in the South-East, but also in the Mallee and elsewhere, as I am sure the member for Hammond will attest.

Ms Pratt: And the Mid North.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: And the Mid North, indeed. We had country cabinet in the Mid North a few weeks ago, and I travelled to Mallala, amongst other places, as the member for Frome would know, along with the member for Light, and we met with people on the ground who were experiencing this hardship, which is real.

So yes, again, to come back to the essence of the Leader of the Opposition's question, this government has already announced a package. We are very happy to acknowledge that this is a very concerning situation that requires active government attention. We are doing that, as evidenced by the meeting we had this morning, and we will actively contemplate any way that the state government can show more support beyond the measures that we have already announced, which I am happy to enunciate if required.