SA government establishes $55m farmer assistance fund

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The South Australian government has established a drought relief funding package for the many farmers pushed to the brink by one of the state’s driest years on record. Places including Maitland on the Yorke Peninsula and Wirrabara Forest in the Southern Flinders have had the lowest rainfall since records began.

Transcript

00:00South Australia's Premier Peter Malinowskis has announced an extra $55 million will be

00:07delivered to help drought-stricken farmers cope with one of the most devastating dry

00:12spells on record. Large parts of the state haven't experienced decent rain since around

00:17September and October last year, and back then many farmers were already experiencing

00:23one of their driest seasons. Over in the Adelaide Hills and the Fleurieu Peninsula, the lack

00:28of rainfall has dried up dams and waterways, leaving farmers and households who aren't

00:33connected to mains water struggling. To cope, some of those residents are showering at local

00:38football clubs, going without basics like clean clothes, and some are being forced to

00:42sell their livestock. And as a result, water carters have been facing unprecedented demand.

00:48Then just last week, a new report showed the drought is also impacting Adelaide's water

00:52supply, with the city's reservoirs now at their lowest levels in decades. The state

00:57government has been under increasing pressure to do more for the agriculture sector as this

01:02drought drags on. It did previously announce an $18 million drought support package back

01:08in November, so today's announcement brings the total drought assistance funding to around

01:13$73 million. We have not seen dryness like this in South Australia for as long as records

01:19have been kept. Whether you're in the southeast, whether it be the York Peninsula, Eyre Peninsula,

01:23the Mid-North, the Mallee, you name it, we are dry. And that necessitates, I think, government

01:31stepping in and showing support. We know that a lot of farmers have been calling for interest-free

01:36or low-interest loans to help with the cost of bringing in feed and water. The Premier

01:41says today's package has been designed in direct consultation with primary producers

01:46and includes immediate financial support as well as mental health supports. A large portion

01:52of today's package, around $17 million, will also go towards future drought preparedness

01:58and resilience programs, and the government says that this funding will be available in

02:03the coming weeks.

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