Govt seeks boost for drought, EI relief

The federal government has moved to boost by $1 billion the emergency assistance for drought-stricken farmers and for a horse industry affected by equine influenza.

Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said the legislation - which was rushed through the lower house on its first full sitting day - was urgent because funds allocated for assistance would otherwise run dry at the end of this month.
The bill gives effect to policies the government has already announced.
It expands exceptional circumstances (EC) drought relief assistance by $251.2 million and provides $255.7 million to the horse industry following the outbreak of horse flu last August.
"This bill requires immediate passage as the administered appropriations provided to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry have been exhausted," Mr Tanner told the lower house.
"At the current rate of expenditure, the department will run out of appropriations by the end of February 2008."
A second appropriation bill added $440.1 million to support primary producers in EC-declared regions and $7.8 million to support businesses with up to 100 employees that are dependent on patronage from farmers in EC-declared regions.
It also moved to reimburse $97.2 million to the states and territories for funds they spent on a national effort to eradicate equine influenza, most of which it plans to recover from the horse industry.
The bills were introduced in the morning, and the bill passed the lower house when debate resumed in the afternoon - an unusually speedy passage.
Debate on the bill was heated despite the opposition supporting the measures.
Nationals' leader Warren Truss warned farmers were worried Labor's EC review could cut funding, and urged the government to consult with them rather than just relying on academics.
"Farmers are all naturally concerned about what threats there might be associated with this review," he said.
But Agriculture Minister Tony Burke accused Mr Truss of running a fear campaign.
Mr Burke said a previous Labor government had introduced EC drought relief funding, and historically it had enjoyed bipartisan support.
He said primary producers would be disadvantaged if they believed Mr Truss' claims that funding could be cut, and therefore failed to apply for it.
"It does farmers no good at all to have a fear campaign that simply makes them think they are not entitled to assistance to which they are patently entitled," he said.
Mr Burke, meanwhile, said EI was on track to be eradicated by March 14.
Independent Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter, also launched a savage attack on Mr Truss, a former agriculture minister, during the debate.
He blamed Mr Truss for breakdowns in quarantine that lead to the equine influenza outbreak, along with the introduction of many other diseases that had damaged the farming industry.
Mr Katter said Mr Truss had allowed grapes in from California in the same month that Pierce's disease ripped through the industry; had let in black Sigatoka from the Torres Strait which had cost the banana industry nearly $100 million; and allowed beef in from a part of Brazil that had been provisionally declared a foot-and-mouth zone, among other blights.
"This man has got away with the most incredible irresponsibility," Mr Katter said.
"No responsibility has been taken by this ex-minister in his whole time in this place.
"(We have the) worst quarantine industry in Australia's history."