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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-06-18 Daily Xml
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Drought Concessional Loans

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (14:35): Supplementary: with the minister's answer that South Australian farmers actually have to make a business case and do a lot more work to get approved for this funding, will he give them three months extra to apply to the federal government for this funding? If the federal funding is not allocated, will the minister be required to pay that back to the federal Treasury?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:36): I thank the member for Hammond. You have actually misquoted me. I did not say there was more work and more forms to be filled out by South Australians. At some stage, whether you are in Victoria or South Australia, to get these federal funds you have to prove your business case. You have to be able to convince the people who are handing out the money, which is the federal government, that you have the capability of paying back the money. One thing that minister Joyce has made clear is that, if people do not have the capacity to pay back a loan, then it is not a loan, it is a handout, and he is not interested in giving out handouts.

As I said, we are working on this issue with the federal government. They are taking a look at the scheme at a national level. We are taking a look at it at a state level and we welcome any contributions that you can make in feeding in some background about people who may have missed out because we want to get them the money. Minister Joyce wants to give them the money, so if you have any details at all, I encourage anyone over there—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I would like to get—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: It is not our money. We are just administering the scheme.

Mr Pederick: No, it's unused federal money.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: We do not get the money. We administer the scheme. It is federal money that then goes to the farmers. If anyone over there has any examples of people—

Ms Chapman: Ring up Victoria and get it right.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Mr Speaker, can I please ask you to stop the deputy leader from interrupting. This is a serious matter that deserves more than the interjections of the opposition.

The SPEAKER: I call the deputy leader to order.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Thank you very much for your protection because this is a really important issue. What I am asking is for anyone on that side of the house who can bring me examples of farmers who have applied and who have missed out—I would love for us to be able to case manage each of those. We want to get the money out there. Minister Joyce wants to get the money out there. This is a serious issue for South Australians, but we are not going to solve it and we are not going to help a single farmer by playing politics with it in here.

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