It seems the plight of our drought-affected farmers is finally starting to resonate.

By all indications, the city consciousness is now in tune with the harrowing lack of rain in our regional and rural communities. The outpouring of support for farmer Les Jones seemed to substantiate this, who courtesy of public donations, will no longer be forced to shoot his starving cattle.

But Michael McLaren thinks more needs to be done, and is calling on government to step up and deliver for our despairing farmers, who are among the least subsidised in the world.  

“There is a drought on in the agricultural sense, there is a lack of water,” says Michael.

“But that’s not the only drought. There is a political drought, there’s a vision drought, there’s a leadership drought in Australia. This country is not water poor, we’re vision poor.”

“And when you combine all of this, it makes the natural drought just that much more difficult to deal with.”

To remedy this, Michael is calling for a future drought fund to be considered.

“We have a future fund that is to future proof the Australian taxpayer from the effect of public servants retiring and accessing their retirement and their super. But we don’t have a future fund for drought, which is just as predictable.”

“Would it not be such a bad idea to top a little money aside in a pot, a future fund, which could be accessed by farmers and delivered by government, in the perennial circumstance of drought?”

 

It seems the plight of our drought-affected farmers is finally starting to resonate.
By all indications, the city consciousness is now in tune with the harrowing lack of rain in our regional and rural communities. The outpouring of support for farmer Les Jones seemed to substantiate this, who courtesy of public donations, will no longer be forced to shoot his starving cattle.
But Michael McLaren thinks more needs to be done, and is calling on government to step up and deliver for our despairing farmers, who are among the least subsidised in the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;There is a drought on in the agricultural sense, there is a lack of water,&rdquo; says Michael.
&ldquo;But that&rsquo;s not the only drought. There is a political drought, there&rsquo;s a vision drought, there&rsquo;s a leadership drought in Australia. This country is not water poor, we&rsquo;re vision poor.&rdquo;
&ldquo;And when you combine all of this, it makes the natural drought just that much more difficult to deal with.&rdquo;
To remedy this, Michael is calling for a future drought fund to be considered.
&ldquo;We have a future fund that is to future proof the Australian taxpayer from the effect of public servants retiring and accessing their retirement and their super. But we don&rsquo;t have a future fund for drought, which is just as predictable.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Would it not be such a bad idea to top a little money aside in a pot, a future fund, which could be accessed by farmers and delivered by government, in the perennial circumstance of drought?&rdquo;
&nbsp;

Australia Overnight with Mike Jeffreys, 12am – 4am weekdays.

Wake Up Australia, 4am - 9:30am weekdays.

Australia Overnight with Mike Jeffreys, 12am – 4am weekdays.
Wake Up Australia, 4am - 9:30am weekdays.

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