Green drought support: Government pledges aid to Australian farmers

Herald Sun

14 hours ago

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The federal government has vowed to keep supporting farmers and regional communities struggling through the green drought, especially if things get worse before they get better.
As farmers across southern parts of Australia hold out hopes for a wet spring, which the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting, new Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said the government was conscious that might still not be enough.
'While we can't anticipate what might happen, we are there ready to provide support where and when needed,' she said in an interview.
More frequent and intense weather events have cost the budget more than $2bn already this year, but Ms McBain said cost wasn't a barrier to ensuring disaster-prone communities were looked after.
'No doubt that it's an expensive operation, but it's what we've got to do to make sure Australians are kept safe,' she said.
'We've got to ensure that we're helping Australians, no matter where they live, to receive the support they need before, during and after a natural disaster.'
Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain has vowed to keep supporting farmers and regional communities struggling through the green drought. Picture: Martin Ollman
The increasing cost to the budget underscores how crucial investment in resilience is. Ms McBain, a former mayor of Bega Valley Council who led her community through nine natural disasters, said local governments had a crucial role to play in ensuring communities were best prepared for severe weather.
'I want the focus to be on helping local councils to build more resilient infrastructure and prepare local communities as best they can for the advent of natural disasters,' she said.
Almost two thirds of Australians have been affected by natural disasters since the 2019/20 bushfires, and some communities have required assistance a dozen times since then.
Already this year, Australia has experienced a number of abnormal extreme weather events including a cyclone threatening southeast Queensland for the first time in 50 years, severe flooding in the state's largely unprepared west, and waves of drought in southern Australia.
While many of those drought-impacted regions received rain over winter, it came too late. It turned fields green but the plans lacked the nutritional value needed to support livestock which triggered the 'green drought'.
Farmers across southern parts of Australia hold out hope for a wet spring, which the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting. Picture: Toby Zerna Media.
Ms McBain said the drought highlighted how far reaching the impacts were.
'The cumulative and compounding impacts of disasters is pretty intense, particularly for regional and rural communities. It impacts not only residents, but our small businesses and our primary producers,' Ms McBain said.
'We've got to make sure that we're building the right foundation of resilience and preparedness, and that's exactly what we've been doing with the Disaster Ready Fund.'
The $1bn fund, which is due to run until 2028, is currently in its third round. In its second year, $200m was spread across 171 projects.
The Future Drought Fund, established in 2019, offers $100m in grants and programs every year. Over the next four years, $36m has been earmarked to support social resilience in agriculture-dependent communities.