A drought meeting held in Pilliga recently appears to have sent a clear message to politicians, with the Federal Minister for Agriculture announcing a new Drought Recovery Concessional Loans scheme late last week.
Just days after more than 80 people gathered at the Pilliga Community Centre to discuss the ineffectiveness of current drought assistance measures, Barnaby Joyce introduced cheaper, longer concessional loans.
Compared to the previous Concessional Drought Loans, the loan term has been extended from 5 to 10 years.
The interest rate has also been lowered from 4% to 3.21%, but will be reviewed every 6 months.
The Drought Recovery Concessional Loans scheme is designed to enable farmers to plant and restock when the drought eventually breaks.
Eligible Farm Businesses will be able to apply for loans up to 50 per cent of total Eligible Debt to a maximum of $1 million in total.
Interest only repayments will be available for the first 5 years of the scheme.
Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton, said the low interest loans would only be available to those suffering extreme circumstances.
“These loans are not for those farmers who are going through a short dry spell. These loans are for the farmers who have been struggling through the worst drought in living memory,” said Mr Coulton.
“Farmers will have to demonstrate that they have experienced either a 1 in 50 or a 1 in 100 year rainfall deficiency, which is really a very specific area.
“Rain, and some long term financial assistance to restore their business to normal operational conditions, will see productivity return to this region.
“Significant assistance has already been made available to farmers through the Farm Household Allowance, Drought Concessional Loans and through social support. Over $700 million in support has been accessed by farmers to date.”
Pilliga farmer Graeme McNair welcomed the new concessional loan scheme, but fears it is too little, too late for the worst affected land holders in the region.
“Any help is good, but I still don’t think they recognise that there is immediate need for some cash, and they haven’t addressed that problem,” he said.
“It’s 4 months away before anyone will actually have money in the bank, because of the application process and the Christmas holidays when everything shuts down.
“The meeting put the pressure on and the media coverage was really good, but I still don’t think they understand that agriculture is ready to take off, and really generate a lot of money but they’ve just got to help people get over the hump.”
Minister Joyce was not able to confirm when farmers could begin applying for loans through the new scheme.
“I am finalising all the arrangements necessary to expedite the delivery of this assistance to those who need it most,” he said.
The application guidelines will be available soon.
Information on existing assistance for farmers and farming businesses is available online at agriculture.gov.au/drought.