Mirabella welcomes enhanced drought assistance
Sophie Mirabella, the Federal Member for Indi, has today welcomed the announcement by the Prime Minister of a significant extension of the Government’s Exceptional Circumstances (EC) drought assistance measures.
“Travelling around the electorate, I know how hard the drought is impacting on the region. These new measures announced by the Howard Government today will make a real difference,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“We are dealing with an ongoing crisis in our local communities throughout the North-East as the drought continues to bite, and I am pleased that the Prime Minister has announced this major enhancement to drought assistance which will greatly benefit farmers in Indi.”
Today’s announcement of an additional $714 million package offers a number of practical measures which will go a long way towards assisting those in our community who have been hit by the worst drought in living memory. They include:
• easing farmers’ access to exceptional circumstances assistance.
• broadening assistance for small businesses who rely heavily on agriculture and have experienced a significant downturn
• doubling the off-farm income exception for income support from $10,000 to $20,000
• increasing the off-farm assets test for interest rates subsidies from $473,000 to $750,000
• widening of the government’s employment assistance to farmers
“Today’s announcement comes on top of last week’s announcement that the Government will extend the EC assistance from the current expiry date of March 2008 out to September 2008,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“The extension of EC assistance until September 2008 reflects the Howard Government’s commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers though this devastating drought.”
“Just one part of the Howard Government’s EC assistance is the EC Relief Payments, which are currently being paid to 1,452 farms in the Northern and North-East Victorian regions. This measure alone has injected some $33 million into our local communities over recent years to provide assistance to struggling families,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“This assistance will allow farmers to plan through to next year’s season, knowing that assistance will continue to the end of their next opportunity to plant crops.
“Travelling around the electorate, I know how hard the drought is impacting on the region. These new measures announced by the Howard Government today will make a real difference,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“We are dealing with an ongoing crisis in our local communities throughout the North-East as the drought continues to bite, and I am pleased that the Prime Minister has announced this major enhancement to drought assistance which will greatly benefit farmers in Indi.”
Today’s announcement of an additional $714 million package offers a number of practical measures which will go a long way towards assisting those in our community who have been hit by the worst drought in living memory. They include:
• easing farmers’ access to exceptional circumstances assistance.
• broadening assistance for small businesses who rely heavily on agriculture and have experienced a significant downturn
• doubling the off-farm income exception for income support from $10,000 to $20,000
• increasing the off-farm assets test for interest rates subsidies from $473,000 to $750,000
• widening of the government’s employment assistance to farmers
“Today’s announcement comes on top of last week’s announcement that the Government will extend the EC assistance from the current expiry date of March 2008 out to September 2008,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“The extension of EC assistance until September 2008 reflects the Howard Government’s commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers though this devastating drought.”
“Just one part of the Howard Government’s EC assistance is the EC Relief Payments, which are currently being paid to 1,452 farms in the Northern and North-East Victorian regions. This measure alone has injected some $33 million into our local communities over recent years to provide assistance to struggling families,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“This assistance will allow farmers to plan through to next year’s season, knowing that assistance will continue to the end of their next opportunity to plant crops.
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posted by Greg Naylor at
4:53 PM
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