Drought Assistance

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (14:31): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier provide an update to the house on the state government's support to drought-affected communities?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:31): I thank the member for Light for his question; it follows the question from the member for Stuart to the Treasurer.

Indeed, since parliament last met in the preceding sitting week, the state government on 8 April did announce a comprehensive drought assistance package that comes on the back of the package that was also announced in November last year and I think it is important to update the house on that package and it being rolled out. I thank the member for Light for his question. The member for Light has been a really powerful advocate for the interests of people from our regional communities for some time, having represented significant proportions of them, particularly in parts of the Mid North of the state, and I thank him for his advocacy.

When we developed this second package, the Minister for Primary Industries and the Treasurer and I were keen to make sure that we learned from the things that were working well from the first package and maybe dial back some of the things that weren't as productive. We were very grateful for the input that we received from the primary production sector, from a range of different organisations, and their feedback definitely informed how the package has been structured. They deserve a lot of credit for the way that they have gone about advocating for their communities and their constituencies' interests, along with members of the opposition who have also raised various ideas at points in time as well.

The government certainly has been deliberate in wanting to invest in on-farm drought infrastructure, with the further $13 million investment in that regard, because that is not just a handout, it is a hand up, which is language that we consistently heard from primary producers themselves. They are not just looking for cash; what they are looking for is the capacity to be able to deal with drought resilience, because this won't be the last one that occurs, of course.

There was also $4 million to assist charities in freight costs and, to that end, I am very pleased to report that a very substantial volume of hay is being delivered already throughout the state, which is very virtuous indeed. On top of that we have also provided financial relief by providing rebates for the ESL and also commercial vehicle registration fees for primary producers and $2.5 million for an immediate and comprehensive strategy to boost mental health resilience in drought-affected areas.

We are very deliberately providing direct financial support to rural financial counselling and rural small business organisations with $3.5 million to them. One of the challenges of the drought is the broader movement of other fauna into agricultural areas. There are a lot of kangaroos moving south as a result of the drought. That necessitates the culling of pests and managing kangaroo populations and $3.1 million has been allocated to that specifically, which is a big investment in that exercise. Also, $4.5 million has been allocated to support and produce the implementation of EID for sheep and farm goats. This is a national strategy that is being rolled out for very good reason for biosecurity purposes.

We contemplated turning that off altogether, but the far better strategy, of course, is to acknowledge the biosecurity risks that we have as a country that are coming our way and instead to just provide financial support for rolling out EID. Of course, on top of that, there were other provisions that have been made to a range of communities throughout the state.

The package is comprehensive. We would encourage farming communities to get access to it and we have also expedited the payments that have been rolled out to the community as well.