The State Government’s decision to add 15 new Shires to the list of drought declared regions of Queensland will bring a large part of the State’s dairy industry into officially declared regions, according to the State’s lobby group for the industry, the Queensland Dairyfarmers’ Organisation. The State Government has brought 15 new Shires to the list of official drought declared regions, bringing the dairying regions of the Sunshine Coast, Wide Bay Burnett, Darling Downs and some parts of Central Queensland into official declarations. QDO President Brian Tessmann thanked the work of the Minister for Agriculture, John McVeigh, and his Department on making the declarations happen. “We understand that the Minister had directed drought committees to meet up to a month earlier than they normally would, which helped speed up this declaration process,” Mr Tessmann said.
“It has been clear for all of 2014 and longer that the situation is dire, and the only thing holding up the declaration process was the abnormally high rainfall of the Australia Day 2013 flood. So these declarations are important in two mains ways. They are an important acknowledgement of the severe challenge that producers are facing in these regions; and they path the way for producers to access the range of assistance measures.
“There are a range of support measures available. Some measures will provide welcome and needed relief for farmers, while others may not be helpful in all individual cases. The important thing is that farmers can now weigh up what is available and, if they are eligible, they can start the process. QDO will be sending assistance information packs to farmers this week.”
Mr Tessmann said that some dairying regions such as the Scenic Rim and other areas close to Brisbane have not yet been declared. “However, producers in these regions can still apply for Individual Droughted Property (IDP) declarations, and we encourage them to do so if they are experiencing drought conditions,” he said.