House of Representatives

Monday, 3 June 2013 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 25
indeed a reflection on the bishop and his character and
a further testimony to the great enduring faith of the
wonderful Maronite people who, over centuries, have
suffered all manner of things. It is their faith that has
provided them stability in their cultural, religious and
personal lives, and they can truly celebrate—as will be
done this evening, in Sydney, where I understand he
will celebrate his first mass.
Mr BURKE (Watson—Minister for the Arts,
Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water and
Population and Communities) (12:17): I table the
letters of congratulations to Bishop Tarabay from the
Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
COMMITTEES
Agriculture, Resources, Fisheries and Forestry
Committee
Report
Mr ADAMS (Lyons) (12:17): On behalf of the
Standing Committee on Agriculture, Resources,
Fisheries and Forestry I present the committee's report
on the inquiry into the National Rural Advisory
Council annual report 2011-12 together with the
minutes of proceedings and evidence received by the
committee.
In accordance with standing order 39(f) the report was
made a parliamentary paper.
Mr ADAMS: by leave—The council, commonly
referred to as NRAC, is an independent body providing
advice to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and
Forestry on matters including rural adjustment,
regional issues, training, exceptional circumstances
applications and the extension of the exceptional
circumstances declarations.
In 2011-12 one of the NRAC's core responsibilities
was the review of the exceptional circumstances
declarations that would expire that year. They included
declarations in the Murray River and Lower Lakes
Corridor, Bundarra and the Eurobodalla regions. The
NRAC's determination was that these declarations did
not need renewal. Australia was deemed drought-free
for the first time in a decade. Following this, the
NRAC was tasked with a program of policy
development work within the agriculture sector. This
included assessment of the multiperil crop insurance
and the Farm Management Deposits Scheme, aimed at
reducing volatility in farm incomes over the longer
term and agriculture employers workforce planning
capacities.
To reflect this shift in its focus, the committee
recommended that the NRAC's competition be
monitored to ensure that its membership adequately
reflected the skills needed to deliver high-quality
outcomes for its current work program. In parallel with
the NRAC's work, a process has been undertaken by
the Council of Australian Government's Standing
CHAMBER
Council on Primary Industries to examine drought
assistance reform. This was born in part by the 2008
declaration of that body stating that exceptional
circumstances declarations were no longer an effective
mechanism for managing drought assistance, and that
the focus would be better placed on better planning and
preparation for times of hardship.
In examining the shape of a future effective policy,
the council commissioned economic, social and
climatic assessments aimed at examining how the
current national drought policy affected farming
families and communities. Armed with the results of
these assessments, a trial of new measures was
conducted in Western Australia over 2010-2011. A
review of this trial made a range of recommendations
to provide a more robust future policy. Broadly, those
included income and social support, strategic farm
business planning and ongoing access to the Farm
Management Deposits Scheme and other taxation
incentives.
Moving on from the trial, the Standing Council on
Primary Industries entered into an Intergovernmental
Agreement on National Drought Program Reform in
May this year. The agreement centres on five key
areas: a farm household support payment; promoting
farm management deposits and other taxation matters;
a national approach to farm business training; a
coordinated and collaborative approach to division of
social support and services; and tools and technologies
to inform farmer decision-making.
An early part of these reforms has included the
announcement of a farm financing package, aimed at
providing assistance to agribusiness. At the time of this
report formal agreements between the Commonwealth,
states and territories had not been reached, nor had
relevant legislation been enacted to enable the elements
of the package to commence. The committee
recommends that those agreements and legislation be
finalised as soon as possible to ensure that assistance
flows to farmers and communities by the planned
commencement date of 1 July 2013. The committee
also recommended that the agreements be implemented
and the full package of drought reform be completed so
that it could be commenced no later than the agreed
date of 1 July 2014.
I would like to thank the representatives of the
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and
the National Rural Advisory Council who appeared
before the committee's public hearing. Their assistance
in clarifying a range of matters for the committee
proved invaluable in the development of the report. I
hope that the committee's recommendations and the
significant effort of all levels of government in
developing a package of drought assistance reforms
concludes with a positive outcome for farming families
and communities throughout Australia.