The ongoing and severe impact of the drought in parts of Queensland was recognised in today’s Federal Government announcement about the future of 18 drought Exceptional Circumstances regions.
AgForce president Peter Kenny said Friday's announcements were welcome news for the areas which had so far missed out on drought breaking rain.
"Giving these areas an extension will provide much needed relief and give producers and small business operators the confidence to carry on in the face of ongoing drought," he said.
Mr Kenny said while the extension of EC was excellent news for the five regions and one part region – Burnett, Central Darling Downs, Northern Darling Downs, South West, Western Downs-Maranoa and part of the North West Ashy Downs region – there were still other areas which had not had the chance to recover.
"AgForce will ask the Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries – which provides recommendations to the Federal Government – to seek a modification of the Ashy Downs area to include south of the highway at Richmond and also a reconsideration of the Burnett addendum area," he said.
"Overall we are pleased with Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke's announcements today, even though significant areas have not been renewed due to advice from the National Rural Advisory Council that sustained recovery had begun in some areas.
"AgForce has put a lot of work into ensuring producers still in dire circumstances have access to this assistance and the announcement today is positive news for producers and their communities."
The extensions means these areas will be covered by EC until 15 June 2009, putting them in line for renewal with the Duaringa-Bauhinia, Far West, Mt Morgan and Waggamba regions which still have another year to run.
To access maps of Queensland’s EC areas go to: www.daff.gov.au/agriculture-food/ drought/ec/queensland
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