Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announces SA to host national drought forum in Gawler in August
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made a flying visit to SA, dropping a major drought announcement and promising more cash for the battling regions.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced South Australia will host a national drought forum in Gawler for the first time in August, and that farmers will get another $2m in support.
Flanked by farming groups, Premier Peter Malinauskas, the national and state agriculture ministers and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, Mr Albanese made the announcement in a local farm visit north of Adelaide on Monday morning.
He said the national drought forum held every two years would shift from Mildura in Victoria to Gawler, with the PM saying industry groups and farmers would descend “from all over the country”.
Government and industry leaders would tackle challenges facing the industry in the forum, jointly held with the National Farmers Federation (NFF).
Mr Albanese said the $2m announcement followed $800,000 committed to drought relief last week – and would be used to employ more Rural Financial Counselling Service staff to meet huge demand from farmers dealing with the impact of historically dry conditions.
“Our farmers are doing it tough,” he said.
The PM made the announcement surrounded by dusty paddocks at fourth-generation sheep and cropping property Ashmore Rams in Fischer, near Mallala north of Adelaide.
Troy and Nette Fischer, who live on the property with their three daughters Isabelle, 16, Indigo, 14, and Elke, 9, have dry seeded their 1600ha farm with wheat and lentils but desperately need rain.
Mr Fischer said the family was struggling but remained committed to keep its sheep numbers stable, buying in hay after breeding White Suffolk on the property for the past 35 years.
“It has been horribly dry, we probably had 20mm for the year (so far), we would normally have had about 120mm and that’s on the back of last year, we usually have a 400mm average and last year we got 165mm,” he said.
“Last year we had reduced or zero yield.”
Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the forum would draw together stakeholders to discuss how the government could “address drought both now and into the future collectively”.
“Farmers on the ground know the land the best, which is why we’re bringing the National Drought Forum to South Australia which is managing the real consequences of these harsh conditions,” she said.
While NFF David Jochinke welcomed the funding and forum announcement he called on the government to extend the Region Investment Corporation’s low-interest loan program beyond June 30 next year.
“Holding the upcoming National Drought Forum in the context of a real-life drought gives us the chance to review the effectiveness of preparedness activities as well as stress test policies and response frameworks to ensure they’re working in practice on the ground,” Mr Jochinke said.
The NFF was also calling for more mental health support for farmers and regional communities.
Shadow Primary Industries spokesperson Nicola Centofanti said the announcement “falls short of the urgent, practical support farmers need on the ground right now”.
Huge $17bn reminder of just how important our regions are
By Erin Jones
South Australia’s agriculture industry is worth $17.1bn to the state’s economy, as farmers continue to show resilience in the face of one of the toughest droughts on record.
The recently released, State of Primary Industries 2025 report, highlighted the value and its $8.6bn in overseas trade – 49 per cent of the state’s total merchandise exports.
Agribusiness was worth $7.9bn in gross value add – the value of goods and services, minus inputs – and ranked fifth in SA, ahead of manufacturing and mining industries.
Primary Producers SA commissioned the report, which was supported by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA, using the state government’s 2023-24 scorecard.
PPSA chairman Simon Maddocks said while the value of the industry was slightly down, it was at a time when many of the state’s farmers started feeling the effects of drought.
“We normally talk about an $18.5bn being the sector’s contribution, but what this does is reinforces that even in a bad year we are still a significant backbone to the economy,” Prof Maddocks said.
“We know when it rains again we’ll do even better, so this shows why it’s worthy of federal and state investment in the bad times, because everyone reaps the benefits in the good times.
“These are not legacy industries, they’re relevant now and into the future.”
The report ranked SA broadacre and dairy productivity, second and third nationally in their sectors, as farmers embraced geospatial mapping, automation and AI to optimise yields.
The Waite Research Institute and SA Research and Development Institute were credited for agricultural advancements, including developing drought-tolerant crop varieties.
“I understand the national interest in submarines and space, but there is a group of industries that have supported the state since European settlement and they are as tech advanced as anything you point to,” Prof Maddocks said.
The report detailed forestry, horticulture and seafood sectors all experienced higher revenue in 2023-24, compared to their five year average.
Grain farmers generated $6.3bn in revenue for the state, down from a record of $7.76bn in 2022-23, while livestock contributed $3.5bn in revenue.
Grain Producers SA chief executive Brad Perry said the importance of the grain industry’s 4500 farmers was “often undersold” and this showed how important it was to SA.
“One of the things its highlighted is that the grain sector’s productivity is really high and efficient as we can be, but unfortunately we’re highly reliant on rainfall,” Mr Perry said.
The report detailed labour shortages posed a challenge to sustain productivity and growth, with school-to-career pathways in agriculture and ag-tech a future focus.
Fifth generation farmer Alex McGorman said workforce retention was an ongoing issue at his Mid Murray mixed-farming property.
“We have a workforce of 41 people on our books, so we’re fairly large but it’s always an ongoing challenge, especially to get skilled workers,” Mr McGorman said.
He hoped the report would go some way to bridge “the massive disconnected between the city and country”.
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