Darling Downs farm tour shows drought continues to bite
DARLING DOWNS FARM VISIT SHOWS DROUGHT CONTINUES TO BITE
Federal Member for Groom Ian Macfarlane, and the Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Forestry, John Cobb, today met with Darling Downs landholders to discuss the impact of drought on their farms and the local community.
“What farmers have made clear is that they fear the full extent of the conditions isn’t being realised by the Rudd Government in Canberra,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“While some parts of the Darling Downs have been lucky enough to receive some much-needed rain this month, what we’ve seen and heard shows that the benefits haven’t been evenly spread.
“And of course, a couple of good falls can’t undo overnight the damage years of drought have inflicted.”
From June last year, the Groom electorate had its eligibility for drought assistance overturned when Exceptional Circumstances assistance expired.
But in the space of time since then conditions have taken a turn for the worse.
Shadow Minister for Agriculture John Cobb said the Rudd Government is letting down regional communities by repeatedly refusing to make drought assistance a priority.
“Kevin Rudd’s priorities are clear – he has spent more nights overseas than he has in regional Australia,” Mr Cobb said.
“This Government’s flippant attitude to drought policy is creating even more uncertainty for rural communities. While the Rudd Government focuses of reviews, it’s been all talk and no action.
“As the Rudd Government dithers its farmers like these on the Darling Downs that pay the price,” Mr Cobb said.
As well as inspecting drought-affected properties near Mt Tyson, Mr Macfarlane and Mr Cobb attended a public meeting to discuss the broader impacts of the drought.
“Farmers in our region are no strangers to the hardship of drought, and are certainly under no illusions about the challenges of life on the land, but their situations are being made that much more difficult by a Government that has refused to take regional and rural Australia seriously,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“It’s time for the Prime Minster and Agriculture Minister Tony Burke to get out in regional communities and see the reality for themselves,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“The Rudd Government shouldn’t be given a free pass to keep up its neglect of regional Australia and the Coalition is determined to maintain the pressure on Mr Rudd to swap his passport for a road map and start listening to rural and regional Australians,” Mr Cobb said.