Drought Assistance

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:40): Supplementary: minister, are you 100 per cent satisfied with the timeliness and the progress of the government's intervention in this matter?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:41): As I have mentioned, I am very pleased that hay runs have continued across the state. There has been a lot of feedback about how much they are appreciated. Obviously, it is a top-up. No-one is expecting that all of their hay needs would come from such a scheme, but the feedback that we have had is that there were opportunities to further improve the scheme.

Having an agreed figure for the different types of trucks was important because I would hate for any charities to be wrongly accused of charging more than is the appropriate amount, given that they are doing charitable works, and I think it is very important that the reputation of the charities is well maintained. I certainly hope that those opposite don't try to play political games with the good work that some of these charities have been doing.