Australian Democrats senate candidate, Pete Mailler, says rural and regional NSW is on a knife edge and none of the majors seem to care as rural communities stare down the barrel of another hard winter.
Mr Mailler, a grain and cattle producer, said, "Over ninety percent of NSW is in the grip of drought and conditions are tough nationally too. The most alarming thing is that this country has no strategies or coherent policies in place to deal with drought impacts."
"Drought is not a new problem in Australia. Droughts are an endemic feature of our environment, but climate change promises more frequent and more extreme weather events which suggest weather related disruptions like drought are more likely and more damaging."
Australian agricultural risks have been rising while financial returns have been falling. It is essential that we work to mitigate those risks to attract and retain essential human and investment capital in the sector.
"It is not the Government's responsibility to ensure no business fails in our economy and the same is true for agriculture, but there comes a time when drought is beyond reasonable management for a small business and it threatens the entire sector and the social and economic fabric of entire communities."
Media stunts like shearing a shearing a sheep bely any real understanding of the significance of the problem for the broader economy if rural and regional communities decline further.
Climate change and drought must be discussed on the same page and Australia must look to mitigate both the immediate impact of drought and plan strategically for more frequent events going forward.
All the major parties are burying their heads on the long term aspects of issues of climate and drought and rural when regional communities can't afford another misstep. Rural and regional communities need and deserve better political service on hard and related issues around drought, climate and water.
The Leaders' Debate demonstrated again that politics has become disingenuous and self-absorbed when we need honesty, accountability and transparency. The Australian Democrats is determined to elevate rural issues in this context in the political discourse as a key national strategy.
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