May 5, 2014
Two Queensland MPs – members of the State Parliament’s Agriculture, Resources and Environment Committee – visited the South Burnett last week to gather views at firsthand about the government’s drought relief package.
Committee chairman Ian Rickuss (the Member for Lockyer) and committee member Anne Maddern (Member for Maryborough) visited a number of local properties and businesses on Thursday, including Smithfield Feedlot and Coolabunia peanut growers.
In the evening, they hosted an open forum at the Town Common Hall where rural producers could speak freely and ask questions.
They heard many complaints from the crowd about delays in accessing Federal funding, the size of the forms (up to 28 pages) and the information requested.
“People won’t fill the forms in. They look at it and then just throw their hands in the air.”
“The government knows exactly what I earn and exactly what I grow; why do I have to tell it again all the time?”
While sympathetic, Mr Rickuss and Ms Maddern urged the group to contact their Federal Members about this as it was outside their control.
Other topics covered included:
- The cost irrigators have to bear from extremely high electricity prices
- Access to hay – “We could have sourced local hay if that money had been available earlier”
- The need to contact QRAAA for advice early, not late
- Don’t self-access eligibility for relief measures, seek advice
- Mental health in rural areas is not just a health issue
There was a degree of pessimism in the room from the 22 people present, particularly about the State Government’s stated aim to double rural production in Queensland by 2040:
“If we double rural production now we will only be 25 per cent of what we were 25 years ago.”
“There is not one farm – dairy, beef – that is making money. All the farmers will be out of it by 2040.”
