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December 2006
State prepared for drought
Contributed by Trudy Glasgow, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Orange.

Despite the severity of the current drought, State and Federal government measures put in place over the past 100 years and ongoing assistance would ensure the farming sector’s survival.

This was the message from NSW Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald in his address to the Farm Writers’ annual Christmas function at State Parliament House on 13 December.

Speaking before a crowd of around 130 Farm Writers’ members and guests, host and guest speaker Mr Macdonald stressed the importance of giving the current drought, which is affecting 92.7 per cent of NSW, an historical context.

“No matter how bad the droughts have been, in the last 100 years we’ve put infrastructure in place to meet basic demands of those communities affected,” Mr Macdonald said.

“There is a better government structure in place today to deliver farm resources. So far in this current drought $1billion has been spent on assistance programs from both State and Federal Governments.

“There is better physical infrastructure and delivery mechanisms for these various assistance measures.

“To date, 86,000 farmers in NSW have accessed $90 million in transport subsidies alone. We have also put in place additional support services such as mental health assistance programs and the drought support network program.”

Mr Macdonald acknowledged the ongoing issue of water allocation beyond the farm to support other primary industry groups, such as agriculture, mining and forestry.

“There is competition between various primary industries for resources such as water and this is a new phenomenon west of the divide,” he said.

“We have to have responsible consideration of the issues, which we have worked through with the affected communities in most cases.”

Mr Macdonald took a range of questions from guests on issues including mental health problems relating to drought, guidelines to enable the easier movement of livestock into other states, and the current native vegetation debate.

He said the State Government’s soon to be released report card on natural resource management indicated a high level of compliance with the legislation by most farmers.

“The effort of farmers to manage their farms’ native vegetation responsibly should be recognised,” he said.

Corporate members of the month were National Australia Bank, Sunrice and Virbac with the traditional handing out of lucky door prizes again a highlight of the December Farm Writers’ event.