Government Embassassed On Drought Press Release Gavan O'Connor - Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries

Media Statement - 6 May 2004

Acting Agriculture Minister Senator Ian Macdonald is so embarrassed by the misleading press release he issued yesterday in relation to drought funding that he has had it removed from his official ministerial website.

Yesterday Senator Macdonald sought to twist comments made by Opposition Leader Mark Latham on ABC radio in South East New South Wales in order to claim Labor would reduce drought assistance. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Labor is firmly committed to improving the exceptional circumstances process so that farmers get assistance faster, when they need it most.

Even the quote from Mark Latham that Senator Macdonald used yesterday confirms Labor's pro-farmer approach to drought assistance.

Yesterday Senator Macdonald used this quote from the Labor Leader in his media release to try and prove his point:

"So we'll be having a review of those processes in government to make sure they're streamlined and efficient, and the farmers who need assistance, they can have a guarantee its going to be available ay their time of need, rather than years later when in some parts of the state they're restocking, they've had a bit of rain and are restocking. They need the drought assistance when the drought is actually on."

Labor is not about reducing drought assistance to farmers. It is about getting it to them faster.

Senator Macdonald is currently acting in Warren Truss' role as Agriculture Minister and while the organ grinder is away the monkey is trying to do his job.

The Howard Government has an appalling record of failing to deliver drought assistance in a timely manner. It is now two years since all states and the commonwealth agreed on reform to the exceptional circumstances arrangements that would have cut the red tape and delivered assistance in a more timely fashion.

Despite agreeing to the changes the Howard Government has so far failed to implement them.

No wonder Senator Macdonald was too embarrassed to leave the media release on his website. Perhaps he was told by his more senior colleagues to delete it before it drew attention to the Howard Government's failure to deliver drought assistance to farmers when they need it most.