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New approach needed on drought policyThe Member for Eastern Victoria, Philip Davis, says the off-again, on-again Exceptional Circumstances arrangements in East Gippsland highlights the need for an entirely new national approach to drought relief. By Kevin Balshaw - 3rd November 2008 - Back to News The Member for Eastern Victoria, Philip Davis, says the off-again, on-again Exceptional Circumstances arrangements in East Gippsland highlights the need for an entirely new national approach to drought relief.
Mr Davis said extensive studies since the mid-1990s had revealed significant inadequacies in the periodic, ad hoc introduction of relief measures in response to drought events, which were becoming more frequent and prolonged.
He said as the recent Report on Dryness to the Federal Government had found, many existing policy responses are not working because they are crisis-framed and there is need for a broader ongoing strategy to assist country areas such as East Gippsland to live with dryness.
"In this context, I would strongly support the National Farmers’ Federation submission for HECS-style loans to assist farmers through periods of drought and enable them to structure their businesses to mitigate the impact of drought," Mr Davis said.
"The loans would provide long-term support and be repaid when farm income returned to a viable level.
"The NFF has put the proposal to the current Productivity Commission inquiry into drought relief, but in fact it has been widely explored for more than a decade.
"Professor Bruce Chapman, who developed the HECS program for tertiary students, also proposed introducing a mutual obligation concept in the arrangements for drought relief in place of the largely handout measures that traditionally have applied.
"But the idea has remained on the shelf until now when we have come to appreciate more fully the extent and implications of climate change, and the need accordingly to change our thinking about how to deal and live with it."
Professor Chapman and an associate at the Australian National University, Dr Linda Botterill, authored a paper suggesting an income-related loans scheme to provide drought aid to farm businesses.
The Report on Dryness, released in September, advocated "a new national approach to living with dryness, as we prefer to call it, rather than dealing with drought". It said Governments should focus future policy on facilitating the social wellbeing of farm families, rural businesses and communities to improve their capacity to live with dryness.
The report asserted that such an approach would lead to better social, as well as economic and environmental, outcomes.
"We have seen the uncertainty and difficulty resulting from the Federal Government lifting and then re-introducing Exceptional Circumstances arrangements in East Gippsland," Mr Davis said.
"It is to be hoped the Productivity Commission’s inquiry will recognise the need for a more comprehensive policy response such as Professor Chapman and the Report on Dryness have proposed."
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: kevin.balshaw@parliament.vic.gov.au
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