Tuesday, 17 October 2023
“We’ve seen it all before.” He was a man of few words, but the old cocky I struck up a conversation with the other day in Barellan hit the nail on the head when it comes to droughts in Australia.
In fact, we don’t have to cast our minds too far back to remember the most recent dry spell. It was, after all, only a few years ago that farmers and regional communities watched as water supplies dried up, paddocks dried out, and dust storms rolled in. It feels like just yesterday.
And yet, despite drought conditions being fresh in our minds, and the warning signs we’re now seeing, it appears the NSW Labor government is out to lunch when it comes to shoring up water security in the regions and preparing for what looks like being another trying time ahead.
As we know, El Nino was declared last month, and the forecast is for a drier and warmer summer.
During this National Water Week, it’s timely to reflect that since March, we’ve been confronted with the reality that almost a third of NSW has fallen into drought-like conditions, with many farmers already reducing livestock numbers, handfeeding the livestock they’ve held on to, and downgrading crops.
Add to this the ever-present threat of bushfires, and you have the makings of a very nervous few months ahead for rural and regional communities.
Farmers though are resilient. They are pragmatic, they are self-sufficient and they know how to plan for these kinds of conditions. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need our support.
And while they’re the last people to ever ask for help, they will need it.
But I hold very real concerns that this NSW Labor government either doesn’t care, or doesn’t realise the gravity of the situation we’re seeing in the regions, and is not at all focused on drought preparedness, which includes finding solutions to ongoing rural water security issues.
Instead, we’re seeing the exact opposite, with the government taking an axe to projects and programs designed to mitigate the impact of drought.
For example, they’ve ditched plans to raise the Wyangala Dam wall, the Dungowan Dam project has been scrapped, while the vital Safe and Secure Water Program – to fund critical water infrastructure across rural and regional communities – has been all but abandoned.
Unlike the current government, the previous NSW Coalition government stood in solidarity with our farmers; we knew what needed to be done.
Our drought strategy focused on preparedness. It involved measures such as increasing on-farm ag-tech, investments in water security, rural support workers and financial counselling, a rural resilience program and training subsidies.
Farmers don’t want a handout. They just want reassurance that the government understands the severity of what they’re facing and has measures in place to help offset potential devastation.
Published: The Daily Telegraph - Pg 19 - OPINION - 17 October 2023
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