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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-06-24 Daily Xml
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DROUGHT RECOVERY PROGRAM

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:25): My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr SIBBONS: Can the good minister provide the details of the government's drought recovery program for 2010-11 and outline how the allocated expenditure will greatly support drought affected regions of South Australia transition into recovery and renewal?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Northern Suburbs) (14:25): I thank the member for Mitchell for the opportunity to inform the house of the new direction for drought that has been taken by the Rann Labor government—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN: —and one that will support the transition from drought to recovery. There was an interjection: we are actually moving from a situation of drought into recovery and one modifies the application of resources to changed circumstances. The state government has allocated $5.57 million for the coming financial year to assist this transition to recovery. As members may well be aware—and I think the majority of people on this side of house would be—there are now five regions in the state declared as having exceptional circumstances. That compares with 16 up until 31 March this year. We have moved from 16 several months ago to five, so we are in the process of transitioning out.

However, some regions are experiencing economic and social challenges that go beyond the amount of rainfall that they are receiving—and I think the member for Chaffey is only too well aware of the fact that the situation in the Riverland is now no longer one of drought: effectively, it is actually dealing with three other issues. Our strategy takes this into account and is intended to build resilience into these communities.

I would like to inform the house that the South Australian government has also supported new EC applications for areas on the Upper North, the eastern part of Central Eyre Peninsula and the West Coast around Ceduna where dry conditions continued through 2009. I had a meeting with the federal agriculture minister, Tony Burke (I think it was last Friday), and we briefly touched upon these matters. The member for Flinders would be very aware that, despite a promising start to the current season, those farmers are unlikely to see any improvement in cash flows until the end of the year at the earliest. It is going to be very, very difficult for them financially to struggle through to year end.

I recently met with the regional task force chairs who reinforced the value of the coordinators in supporting the regions and that their continuation is critical through the next year to accelerating recovery. Negotiations have also been undertaken with each of the task forces and I have since approved the continuation of the current level of coordination. The task forces and coordinators will maintain a regional leadership group that can represent issues affecting rural communities and industries, while continuing the coordination of service providers, and I think this is an invaluable service. Continuation of specific support will be provided to the Riverland through the Rural Financial Counselling Service SA, and we have also appointed a specialist wine industry financial counsellor because my view, member for Chaffey, is that, over the next 10 years, we will have to work through this wine grape supply overhang of some 20 per cent.

I would also like to inform the house of the recent announcement by minister Burke regarding a new national drought policy. This announcement sees the Australian government and the Western Australian government begin a new era in drought support, with a 12 month trial of a new package of measures to be tested from 1 July this year until 30 June next year. This is a dramatic shift away from the regime that has been in place for the better part of several decades. It is based on a Productivity Commission report that strongly recommended we move away from exceptional circumstances and drought declarations. It is based on a Productivity Commission report, and has the strong endorsement of the National Farmers Federation. That trial is underway.

My view is that if it is successful over the next 12 months in Western Australia the commonwealth will apply it through the rest of the nation, so it will become a reality within South Australia. What we are doing in South Australia with the recovery program that I have just outlined aligns very strongly with how the commonwealth and the National Farmers Federation want to deal with climate change, in particular, and adverse rainfall episodes. They want to deal with them in a manner that actually equips farmers to better deal with those particular instances.

We will watch that trial in Western Australia with great interest and liaise with the Australian and Western Australian governments—and I think I am developing a reasonable working relationship with the Western Australia minister—to see what the impact of that particular trial is in terms of developing resilience within the farming community to better equip them to deal with the impact of drought and climate change. With regard to the management of the state's drought recovery, the Premier's special adviser on drought (Hon. Dean Brown) will remain in place. Along with the Premier's high level task force and the intergovernment agency drought response team, they will continue to monitor those regions transitioning into recovery and provide advice and recommendation to government.

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