Grievance Debate

Drought Assistance

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (15:11): The ongoing drought conditions being faced across South Australia are having significant and long-term impacts on our regional communities around the state but especially in my region. Many have not had any rainfall of substance for six or even nine months, rainwater tanks are running out and stock feed levels have been exhausted. Many parts of my electorate have faced their second or third season with less than average rainfall.

Six weeks ago I spoke in parliament here about the dire situation being faced by livestock owners in particular who are really doing it tough and how our communities are crying out for attention. In the weeks since, things have not got any better. I have heard from so many farmers that they are having to either sell off their stock or some are having to put down their stock because otherwise they will be starving in their paddocks, and it is utterly heartbreaking.

If breeding stock is sold off, they cannot be readily replaced. It will mean a substantial and long-term issue. This is breeding stock that has seen generations of investment, time, money and effort put in to maximise the productivity of our flock across the state, which are now being sold off because they cannot be sustained in the current conditions. Last time I spoke in this place on this important subject, I spoke about how we cannot wait and we cannot delay.

I watched with interest the announcement from the government a couple of weeks ago and, sure, on face value it might seem okay, but what is the reality on the ground? Farmers are in desperate need of some hay to sustain their flock in the short term. Weeks ago, we had heard that there was hay interstate that had been paid for and donated but had not been trucked over because the government had been tardy in their considerations.

What I am hearing from providers now is that hay that has been sitting there waiting for the South Australian government to act has now been mobilised and sent up to Queensland to farmers who are affected by the Queensland floods. Farmers in South Australia seem to be left in the dust, literally. What I am hearing from providers now is that some of them are not even returning to South Australia again, and there will not be hay from the rest of them able to be delivered to my region for up to a month unless something dramatically changes—up to a month. We cannot wait that long. Farmers need that hay desperately, and they need it now.

I am sick of the spin. I am sick of the political games, the government speak, the show of it all, the big Peter party, the distraction, when the rest of us are living in the real world where farmers have done the best they can in maximising the resources they have, where they just need action. There are going to be serious long-term effects because of this sustained dry period on our regional businesses and communities, and that impact could have been lessened with a Premier and a government that actually knew what was going on.

I want to speak about the concerns of regional communities on the crime levels that we are seeing across South Australia, especially in regional South Australia. As a passionate regional member of parliament, I regularly speak to individuals, businesses and organisations from across our state and these concerns about increasing crime have been getting louder. We have heard about the challenges that the police in this state are facing at the moment; the shortage of officers, the challenges of recruiting and the shockingly worrying attrition rate that is police officers just leaving the force.

From my electorate every week I get numerous phone calls, messages, emails and stories from individuals and businesses in my electorate from towns like Port Lincoln, Ceduna and beyond about their concerns of what they see as a lack of awareness of the crime problem and violent and antisocial behaviour which they are facing. These are businesses that are facing daily thefts from their shops, individuals who are living in fear of their homes being broken into, businesses that are experiencing levels of constant vandalism, which is unacceptable. The number of broken windows that we are seeing keeps rising. I worry that they are starting to get desperate and might take things into their own hands, whether they are businesses or individuals.

I recently met with our regional superintendent Luke Richards, whose jurisdiction covers the Eyre Peninsula and far west, including Port Lincoln, Ceduna and Whyalla. As well as this, I am speaking to police right across my electorate and the state about their frustration with the lack of strategy—particularly around youth crime—where we are seeing repeat offenders being apprehended by police, let out on bail and the police feel uncertain about where to next. This needs to be a whole-of-government response, absolutely, but someone needs to take responsibility and whether it is the Premier, the Minister for Police, the Attorney-General, the Minister for Human Services or the Minister for Child Protection, I do not mind. My community do not want to hear blame-shifting or obfuscation; they just want to feel safe in their own homes, businesses and communities and I reckon that is fair enough.