The Australian Government must clarify the drought policy provisions that will apply from next year because of the failure of a recent meeting federal and state agricultural ministers to do so, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association said today.
Last October, it was announced that all governments had agreed to a drought program reform process. Last week, this decision was re-confirmed. However, little progress has been made on the detail of the new program beyond the headings, TFGA chief executive Jan Davis said.
The headline components are:
• promoting farm management deposits and taxation measures;
• a national approach to farm business training;
• a collaborative approach to the provision of social services (including rural financial counsellors);
• tools and technologies to inform farmer decision making; and
• farm household support.
“What does it all mean? What access to services and support does a farmer in a newly declared drought area now have?” Ms Davis asked.
“We are no further advanced than we were last October. It is critical that the framework and eligibility criteria for each of the five elements be fleshed out and that the level of support that will be forthcoming once we get into a drought is also clearly identified.
“At the moment these things appear to be a matter for each individual state or territory. This will then depend on the ability of each jurisdiction to pay – and there is no equity or consistency in that approach.”
Ms Davis said Tasmanian farmers wanted to see a national drought relief structure that was backed by the federal government.
“We can see this drifting on, unresolved, until we find ourselves once again in the middle of a drought and, again, governments have been unprepared,” she said.
TFGA chief executive Jan Davis
