$50,000 lifelines for flood-ravaged farmers

Flood-affected farmers in NSW and Queensland will be able to access grants of up to $50,000 under a joint initiative funded by the state and federal governments.

National Recovery and Resilience Minister Bridget McKenzie will announce the $100m assistance package in Forbes on Wednesday. Picture: Gary Ramage

Flood-affected farmers in NSW and Queensland will be able to access grants of up to $50,000 to help them repair fences, salvage damaged crops and replace vital machinery, under a joint initiative funded by the state and federal governments.

National Recovery and Resilience Minister Bridget McKenzie will announce the $100m assistance package in Forbes on Wednesday after major flooding in November in what proved to the wettest month in NSW on record.

To be eligible for the grants, farmers must derive 50 per cent of their income from primary production and be located in a local government area (LGA) that has already been disaster-declared.

Senator McKenzie, to be accompanied by the local member, former Nationals leader Michael McCormack, NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke and state Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders, told The Australian the funding would be evenly split between the state and commonwealth governments.

“The Australian and NSW governments are now committing more than $80m to provide extra support to farmers and primary producers, to help them restock, rebuild and recover,” Senator McKenzie said.

“I think it’s really important in times of need that state and federal governments come together to support communities through natural disasters. Many of these communities have felt the full frontal assault over recent years of drought, mouse plague, Covid restrictions and now floods.

“It’s only right and proper that we come together to support these communities and industries to get back on their feet and start driving local economies and our broader food production outcomes.”

The grants will be managed by the Rural Assistance Authority and provided through the commonwealth and state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole said that in regions including Forbes, Gunnedah and Narrabri farming communities had been “dealt another cruel blow after years of compounding disasters”.

“Making these grants immediately available will help farmers and primary producers get back on their feet as quickly as possible,” he said.

In NSW, 53 LGAs will be eligible for the grants after severe flooding affected the southeastern reaches of the state on December 10-11 following heavy rain and storms. In Tuross, in the Snowy Monaro region, a woman’s body was recovered from flood waters after her car became trapped on an inundated road.

Flash flooding also wreaked havoc in Mogo – north of Bega about 290km south of Sydney – with shop fronts, homes, the Mogo Zoo and campground drenched.

The damaging weather prompted the federal and NSW state government to announce emergency assistance funding for the Bega Valley, Eurobodalla, Goulburn-Mulwaree, Mid-Western, Oberon, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Richmond Valley, Shoalhaven, Walcha and Wentworth. The Snowy Monaro, Bathurst and Blue Mountains regions also received emergency money.

Queensland is also due to receive up to $20m under the package, with nine LGAs prioritised, including Banana, Bundaberg, Goondiwindi, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim, South Burnett, the Southern Downs, Toowoomba and the Western Downs.

“Whilst rain is always welcome in drought-prone Queensland, these floods could not have come at a worse time, with many growers now unable to harvest their winter crops, while others have had to watch their early plantings drown,” Senator McKenzie told The Australian.

Severe storms hit Queensland about the same time as NSW. Rivers in Queensland suffered from major flooding from the centre to the south of the state. The levee in the NSW-Queensland border town of Mungindi reached 7.95m – higher than the peak of the river in the 2011 floods.