As ‘big dry’ continues, Australia launches billion-dollar fund to protect the country against drought
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a new fund with a kitty of A$3.9 billion would be established to pay for drought resilience and water projects
- The drought, coupled with damaging frost in some areas, will contribute to the smallest winter grain crop in 10 years
Australia is setting up a billion-dollar fund to “future proof” the country against droughts, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as farmers struggle with a “big dry” forecast set to continue for months.
Eastern Australia has been hit by a crippling drought – in some areas for several years – that has forced graziers to hand-feed their stock, sell them or even shoot them dead to stay afloat. The unfolding crisis has sparked a raft of support measures from the government, including A$1.8 billion (US$1.3 billion) in financial aid for farmers and local communities launched in August.
Morrison said a new fund with a kitty of A$3.9 billion would be established to pay for drought resilience and water projects in the coming decade.
“[It] means we better future-proof against drought over the next 10 years and beyond,” Morrison told commercial broadcaster Channel Nine ahead of a summit with agricultural leaders to discuss the drought. “We are doing a lot to back the farmers in the rural communities. Focusing on relief, but also on recovery, build resilience into the future.”
The government’s Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES) said at the summit that the drought, while severe, covered a smaller area compared to a previous extreme dry in 2002-03. But the bureau added that in the east, home to important areas for livestock and crops, rainfall was 40 per cent lower than the 20-year average.
