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Call for ‘exit packages’ for drought-hit farmers

The National Farmers Federation has called on the government to provide ‘exit packages’ to help drought-hit farmers leave the land.

National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson. Picture: Simon Santi
National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson. Picture: Simon Santi

Farming families hit by extended drought should be handed “exit packages’’ to leave the land, the National Farmers Federation says.

The proposal is one of a suite of measures the NFF has asked the government to consider, presented along with a long-term national drought policy the group says would correct “ad hoc” and disjointed state and federal measures.

The NFF proposals, due to be released on Wednesday, also call for local council rate relief for drought-hit farmers, federal ­sub­sidies equal to the Newstart Allowance for payroll expenses, and ­additional support for children in isolated areas and rural schools.

The rate relief proposal ­suggests that “farming businesses in ­severely drought-impacted ­regions be provided with the ­option of deferring local government and pasture lease rates for a defined period without incurring default interest, with the commonwealth providing funding to the relevant local government area to cover the temporary shortfall in rates revenue”.

On long-term measures, the NFF wants a permanent “drought committee” made up of state and federal ministers and industry representatives to oversee a national drought policy, a “drought forum” to be convened once every second year, and a review every four years.

The organisation says its ­approach is geared at “a national policy approach to inevitable ­future droughts”, which it says are likely to be more frequent and ­severe. “Drought is forecast to become­ more prevalent in future, with climate change likely to ­exacerbate drought conditions and contribute to increased clim­ate volatility and variability that particularly impacts the farming community,” the document says.

NFF president Fiona Simson said the “exit package” would help families make the transition out of farming after an assessment of their long-term viability.

“It is something that they could consider, given how long this drought is biting,” Ms Simson said. “We know that, sadly, the fact of drought is that some businesses fail.”

While the NFF has not proposed­ an amount, Ms Simson said a previous plan in NSW offere­d $150,000 towards practical relocation needs, such as ordering a removalist and securing new ­accommodation.

“It would ease the burden in making a difficult decision at a ­really difficult time,” Ms Simson said.

The NFF’s national drought policy would, Ms Simson said, involve­ a “paradigm shift” to secur­e always-ready proactive measures, which could be deploye­d as soon as a drought hit.

“We want to treat drought as a given, just a regular part of our business cycle,” she said.

Sources said the government, having considered the NFF report and that of the Co-ordinator-General for Drought, Stephen Day, would likely announce new drought measures.

In Senate estimates hearings on Tuesday, Labor senator Murray­ Watt attacked Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie over what he claimed was the governmen­t’s “lie” that it was spending $7bn in drought assistance measures.

Senator Watt extracted from Senator McKenzie that, of that amount, $5bn was for the Future Drought Fund, and that fund would not have that much money available for another 10 years. The amount being actually spent on that program was $100m a year.

“It’s total rot, these claims that you have a $7bn package,” Senator Watt said. “You are lying to people about what you are doing.”

Senator McKenzie denied that, saying the program was “making sure … we have a way of delivering drought resilience into the future”.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/call-for-exit-packages-for-droughthit-farmers/news-story/a9430a0d01677a939146e92655529777