Land tax is the ‘last straw' for Victorian farmers as drought batters crops
Victorian Liberal MP Bev McArthur comments on increasing costs as drought batters farmers' crops in Victoria.
'When they're confronted by adverse weather conditions, increased rate rises, increased bank interest rates, and huge increase in their input costs as well, and then this tax on top, it's just been the last straw,' Ms McArthur told Sky News host Rita Panahi.
'I've asked the Minister for Agriculture, the state minister, to come and look at what the situation is in our area, see for yourself how desperate people are, and how desperate the situation is.'
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Mass car rescue on Mount Hotham as farmers welcome the rain
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Frost set to cover southern Queensland and beyond as chilly mornings expected for many over next seven days
Large areas of southern Queensland and beyond could wake up to frost this week, as chilly overnight lows are felt across the nation. The beginning of the week has seen alpine resorts blanketed with snow off the back of a low-pressure system affecting the south-east. Sky News Meteorologist Rob Sharpe said on Monday the low-pressure system would be 'moving away' from the country in the coming days and chilly mornings for many Australians are expected in its wake. Cold overnight lows are set to generate frost across many regions over the next week and 'little pockets of frost around the place' forecast to arrive on Tuesday morning are expected again on Wednesday, the Sky News Meteorologist explained. 'Southern Queensland, virtually every night of the week, we're going to have areas of frost in that region,' Sharpe said. 'But for the south-east, we'll start to see it from Wednesday and it will become much more common place Thursday and into the second half of the week, where we'll have widespread frosts.' Frost is looking likely to cover large parts of Victoria, southern and central New South Wales and Tasmania on Friday and large parts of Australia will remain frosty on Saturday and Sunday, he added. 'So, these cold nights, they are here to stay for the next seven nights, but beyond that it may become a little bit more mild with some warmer weather potentially on the way,' Sharpe said. Meanwhile, Sharpe said ski fields are not set to see much more snow in the coming week, with Mt Buller only expected to receive 6cm of snow over the next seven days. 'The key story here is the overnight lows. We've got a great snow base now and it's going to be solidified and topped up by snowmaking every single night through the next seven days, so that is some very promising news there,' he said. Mt Hotham has been forecast to receive 9cm of snow over the next seven days, while 8cm is expected at Perisher. Amidst the chilly conditions being felt in the southeast, the Bureau of Meteorology on Monday issued a warning for sheep graziers in several of areas of NSW and the Australian Capital Territory. Cold temperatures, rainfall and westerly winds are expected into Tuesday in areas including the Snowy Mountains, Southern Tablelands, Northern Tablelands, Central Tablelands, Illawarra, and parts of the Mid North Coast, the warning said. 'There is a risk of losses of lambs and sheep exposed to these conditions,' the BOM added. Among the capital cities, the coldest temperature forecast for Tuesday, according to the BOM, was in Canberra, where a low of –1C and a high of 13 was projected. Sydney was expected to see a low of 10C and a maximum temperature of 18C on Tuesday, while a low of 8C and a high of 14C was forecast for Melbourne. In Brisbane, a low of 8C and a high of 19C was expected on Tuesday, while Adelaide was forecast to reach 17C and drop to a low of 8C and Hobart was expected to see a low of 8C and a high of 13C. Comparatively warmer temperatures were forecast for Perth and Darwin, with a high of 21C and a low of 10C expected for Western Australia's capital and a maximum temperature of 29C, and a minimum of 20C, expected in Darwin.
