Guy Barnett,Minister for Primary Industries and Water
Sunday 27th June 2021
Future Drought Fund will deliver better risk management for Tasmania
- Australian Government's $5 billion Future Drought Fund to support farmers and regions
- The Tasmanian Government will deliver two Future Drought Fund programs - Farm Business Resilience and Regional Drought Resilience Planning
- The programs will assist with providing Tasmanian farmers and regional communities with the risk management tools and capabilities they need to build drought resilience.
Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud and Tasmanian Minister for Primary Industries and Water Guy Barnett said the Future Drought Fund programs will support farmers and regions to build resilience to future droughts.
"The $9.85 million Regional Drought Resilience Planning program supports partnerships of councils, regional organisations, communities, industries and farmers to develop regional drought resilience plans," Minister Littleproud said.
"The plans will identify how to manage through droughts, finding ways to build resilience across agricultural sectors and allied industries.
Planning will be community-led and owned. It will bring regional knowledge and perspectives, along with the best available evidence and data.
"Australian farmers manage uncertainty daily and the business of farming is becoming more challenging," Minister Littleproud said.
"The $16 million Farm Business Resilience program will give farmers access to subsidised learning and development opportunities to meet these challenges.
"The program will take farmers' knowledge and skills to the next level in risk management and decision-making, natural resource management, and personal and social resilience.
"It will also support farm business planning and access to experts and one-on-one advice.
"The Australian Government welcomes Tasmania's partnership in these important Future Drought Fund initiatives."
Tasmania will benefit from over $560,000 in Future Drought Fund funding for Farm Business Resilience and over $770,000 for Regional Drought Resilience Planning.
Minister Barnett said the Regional Drought Resilience Planning program will see three regional drought resilience plans developed covering all of Tasmania.
"The plans will build on existing regional planning for climate change and climate variability in regions including the Tasmanian Coastal Adaptation Pathways and Climate Resilient Councils projects," Minister Barnett said.
"The planning will be led by the Local Government Association of Tasmania in collaboration with the Regional Development Australia Tasmania Committee".
The Farm Business Resilience program will be open to all Tasmanian farmers to build their planning, management and decision-making skills.
"Farmers will be guided through an analysis to identify and prioritise learning needs and practical on-farm actions to take forward through their farm business plan. A mix of small group training and one-on-one coaching will help farmers turn their plan into reality," Minister Barnett said.
The additional funding and planning program will also help the Tasmanian Government reach a future target.
"Importantly, this will help us reach our bold goal to grow the annual farm gate value of the state's agriculture to $10 billion by 2050," Minister Barnett said.
"This funding also delivers on the Tasmanian Government's First 100 Day commitment to secure matched Australian Government funding for our new $2.6 million Rural Business Resilience Package to support Tasmanian farmers."
"We are committed to accelerating Tasmanian agriculture, supporting rural and regional communities and creating even more jobs," Minister Barnett said.
The Australian Government has recently announced an additional $91 million for both programs over 3 years beyond the foundational year and will be working with states and territories on the detail.
For more details visit the Australian Government Future Drought Fund webpage
Fast Facts:
- The Farm Business Resilience program and Regional Drought Resilience Planning program are foundational programs under the Australian Government's forward-thinking $5 billion Future Drought Fund.
- The Future Drought Fund is a long term sustained investment of $100 million each year to build drought preparedness.
- Both will roll out across the country from 2021 until June 2022.
