Federal summit to unveil $5bn Future Drought Fund for rural communities to access in droughts

FARMERS will be guaranteed support against future droughts under a $5 billion investment to be unveiled by the Federal Government.

FARMERS will be guaranteed support against future droughts under a $5 billion investment to be unveiled by the Federal Government.

At the drought summit in Canberra today, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce the Future Drought Fund to help primary producers, organisations and communities prepare for and respond to droughts.

“This funding will support farmers and their local communities when it’s not raining,” Mr Morrison said yesterday.

“It guarantees drought support for the men and women who drive our nation.

“The challenges of drought vary from farm to farm, district to district, town to town, and we continually need to adapt and build capacity — the Future Drought Fund gives us this opportunity.”

PM Scott Morrison and Deputy PM Michael McCormack beside a dry dam at a rural NSW property on Thursday. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

The fund will lead to an investment in research and infrastructure projects across regional Australia.

The types of projects that will receive grants — such as community services, the adoption of new technologies, and advice for long-term sustainability — will be discussed at the summit.

The Government will initially inject $3.9 billion into the fund and will boost it to $5 billion in a decade.

It means $100 million a year for drought assistance will be made available from July 2020, and delivered through new and existing initiatives decided in the Budget.

It is the first time a Federal Government has created such a fund for farmers.

State Primary Industries Minister Tim Whetstone.

The summit will include farming groups, and agribusiness and government leaders, including SA’s Primary Industries Minister Tim Whetstone and Deputy Premier Vickie Chapman.

Mr Whetstone said they would discuss interstate freight subsidies distorting the fodder market and the need for SA to be included in the $75 million federal Drought Communities Program, which is the emergency fund for the existing drought.

“Areas of SA are experiencing drought conditions, and forecasts indicate the state will continue to receive below-average rainfall during the rest of this year’s crop and pasture- growing season,” he said.

About 15 per cent of SA is in drought and includes the eastern and western Eyre Peninsula, Murray Mallee, Upper Yorke Peninsula, Mid North and northern pastoral areas.

However, no federal drought-relief funding has been allocated to the state.

SA farmers, however, will be able to access the new fund, although how it is divided is yet to be worked out.

Originally published as Federal summit to unveil $5bn Future Drought Fund for rural communities to access in droughts