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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-10 Daily Xml
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Bushfire Recovery Support

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (15:31): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Can the minister inform the house as to recovery assistance being provided by the state to bushfire-affected communities, including my own?

The Hon. D.K.B. BASHAM (Finniss—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:31): I thank the member for Kavel for this very important question. The member has been a very strong advocate for those who have been devastated by the Adelaide bushfires, and I thank him for showing me around his electorate over the last couple of weeks. It is also important to acknowledge the work of the state MPs whose electorates have been hit by bushfires over the past 12 months: the members for Morialta, Kavel, Heysen, Flinders, Mawson, Narungga and MacKillop. Particularly, I would also like to thank the Premier for his tireless leadership in supporting the bushfire-affected communities.

Following the bushfires across the state last summer, the government has worked closely with primary producers in response and recovery. The government has been delivering $75,000 bushfire recovery grants to primary producers who have been impacted by fires as part of a joint commonwealth-state partnership. This financial support is helping with the immediate bushfire recovery, such as clean-up, fencing and other vital rebuilding. We have delivered more than $22 million in recovery grants to over 300 primary producers since the program's inception.

The grants have been distributed to farmers impacted by the fires: Kangaroo Island, $10 million; Cudlee Creek, $9 million; Yorke Peninsula, $1 million; and the South-East, almost $1 million. Last week, along with the commonwealth government we announced South Australia's bushfire recovery had received a $4.9 million injection for both Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island communities caught up in the fire scar. This funding is to assist the clean-up work, the feral pig eradication program on Kangaroo Island and the local recovery coordinators and their community development officers.

Recently, I toured a bushfire-affected cattle property with the Premier in the Adelaide Hills at Brukunga. The $75,000 grant helped Brukunga farmer Heidi Sowerby with fencing, water troughs, sheds and other infrastructure so she can rebuild her cattle herd. I also visited Harrogate beef cattle and honey producer Tom Hampton, with the members for Hammond and Kavel, whose property was severely affected by the summer's bushfires. The $75,000 grant helped Mr Hampton secure new replacement fencing and re-establish his beehives. That's why we made changes to the grants program in July 2020, to expand the eligibility criteria and extend the closing date for applications to 31 December 2020.

It's incredibly pleasing to see the green shoots appear for our farmers impacted by the bushfires. The resilience of those on the land should not be underestimated. As part of bushfire recovery, we also provided funding to support thousands of tonnes of donated fodder to the island and support the Oakbank depot in the Adelaide Hills, as well as fence posts and potato bins to the island. We are also supporting affected wine industries with subsidised smoke taint tests, an early berry smoke taint research project and vineyard surveying.

Last week, I was at Golding Wines at Lobethal, hosted by Darren and Lucy Golding, to hear from the Adelaide wine industry about bushfire recovery. Monday's warm, blustery September conditions were a reminder that bushfire season is not far away and we need to remain vigilant. We will continue to stand side by side with our farmers during this very difficult time.

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