A letter that we put together the other day after the rural debt crisis summit. Our brothers and sisters suffering in the bush spoke out against inadequate government assistance last weekend at the Rural Debt Crisis Summit held in my home town of Winton. Hosted by the Katters Australian party, struggling land owners Australia wide travelled from as far away as WA to share their stories and solutions to the current conditions. Foreclosures and suicides were unfortunately a common theme among those that spoke, a sad illustration of the current climate. Though members and candidate for Gregory from both parties, state and federal were invited to attend the event only saw the arrival of Federal minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce, who stayed for a short time. Despite pushes for a rural reconstruction bank Mr Joyce told the crowd he simply did not have the numbers in parliament to make that change. The priorities of the urban population clearly outweighing the needs of many farming families in trouble. Instead they expect the $100 million in assistance announced by Mr Joyce on the eve of the event to serve as a solution. This begs the question, will we stand by and continue to take these inadequate solutions pushed by the political duopoly? Those at Winton stood together and said no, instead we will be pushing for further debt reconstruction to support those in a time of need. During the financial crisis the Australian government extended its hand to support the big four. How could we not do the same for the very people this nation was built on? With the expected benefits of the FTA as promoted by the LNP we should be safeguarding our assets, placing them in a position to grow. However while there was a heavy shadow over the summit a silver lining has developed. On Thursday the ANZ bank (the only bank to send a representative to the summit) committed to halting all farm foreclosures for the next year. It’s heartening to see a financial institution that has made it’s wealth off the people of this country stand up and help those in their time of need. Real mateship in Australia may have endured. The package, a first of it’s kind during the recent debt crisis includes a 12-month commitment from the bank not to increase interest rates on distressed farms and interest rate relief in cases of extreme distress; financial assistance to support farmers choosing to relocate off the land and increased funding for rural counselling, focussed on towns hardest hit by drought. All a first step in the right direction, one I hope many other institutions will follow. This will have a big impact on farmers close to the edge and give them the time they need to get back on their feet until both the federal and state governments agree on a more permeant solution. Unfortunately however this package may be too late for some, like 80 year old Charlie Philpot who many of you may have read about in the letter by Dr David Pascoe which circulated this week. For people like Charlie it’s our hope that this is the beginning of change in the bush, but not the end of the fight. We need to stand up and speak out for those that have already lost their properties through little fault of their own. Not only for the individuals but for the future prosperity of our state. -- Ross Stockham Endorsed Candidate for Gregory Katters Australian Party Ph: 0429338513 [email protected]
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 10:25:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015