KARL STEFANOVIC:
The Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, joins us now from Sydney. Prime Minister, we will talk to you about your drought assistance package in just a moment but first, if you don't mind, I wanted to get your reaction following that earthquake in Indonesia overnight.
Have you got any news about Australians caught up there?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well thank you, Karl. At this stage, we have no reports of Australians being injured, but our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Indonesia, particularly the people of Lombok where the earthquake occurred.
But as we’ve heard, its effects have been felt around Indonesia, including in Bali, where so many thousands of Australians will be right now.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
I guess you'll have to wait and see as light comes up there too on just how many might be affected and also what assistance might be provided by the Australian government?
PRIME MINISTER:
Yes, I’ll be contacting the President of Indonesia today to offer all Australian assistance that would be available. We always reach out to our neighbours when natural disasters strike. But at this stage, as I said, we understand over 30 people have been killed. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families. But at this stage, we have no reports of injuries to Australians. But of course as we know, a number of Australians have been in Lombok, including Peter Dutton, who’ve been affected and felt the consequences of the earthquake.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
All right, thank you for that. Let's turn now to the drought. It was a tough day yesterday. It looked like it was tough for you too.
You spoke to campaigner Edwina Robertson who broke down while recounting the devastating effects of the drought on the people of NSW. What was it like for a Prime Minister to see that first-hand?
PRIME MINISTER:
Karl, my heart goes out to the Australian farmers who are courageously battling this drought. This is the worst drought in well over 50 years. You know, our farmers are among the most courageous, innovative, business people – that’s what they are – anywhere in the world. They battle a very, very capricious climate. We’re the land of droughts and flooding rains. They understand that droughts are part of the Australian landscape, they understand that, but this one has a severity and a length that we’ve not seen, as I said, for over 50 years.
So that's why I've stepped in to put more money onto their tables so that those that are doing it really hard have got more cash to keep body and soul together. That’ll flow into the local communities.
I just want to thank you, Karl, and all of your team and all of your viewers for the love and support they have been providing. That cash that is being supported, provided in these appeals, is going to help families in need. It helps the farmers, but it also goes into the local communities, into the shops and the businesses in the town. So it's vitally important. I thank you for that.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Prime Minister, thank you. You stood next to a woman who pretty much summed up the feeling in the bush at the moment, a woman who has reached the end, who is struggling to cope. What was it like for you personally to stand next to a woman who was struggling so much?
PRIME MINISTER:
Karl, I could feel her pain, I could feel her courage. That's why I embraced her and I said to her; "We are with you". I asked her to be strong and she is strong. Australia's farmers are strong and they’re strong because they are enterprising, courageous people. But they’re also strong because they know the whole nation is behind them.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
OK. You're effectively the boss of this country, how do you console people who do genuinely feel like they have been abandoned for so long?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Australian farmers don't feel they have been abandoned. They are being supported with your appeal, with strong support from Government. They understand there is strong support out there but at times Mother Nature can be very, very cruel. A drought that goes on for as long as this, you know, you can imagine the terrible choices that farmers have to make. I mean, how long do you keep hand feeding your stock?
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Yep.
PRIME MINISTER:
If you stop hand feeding them and sell them and it rains, then how do you afford to restock? If you keep going and going in the hope it will rain and it doesn't rain, you can go broke. Then you're in more trouble.
So these are very, very diabolical choices farmers are having to make. Some of them are doing it very, very tough and that's why we have provided the additional financial support for a family, for a couple, an extra $12,000 a year, and we are providing so much more support in terms of mental health support, community grants. We’re putting a lot more money into those local communities and we will continue to do more.
But Australian farmers are not helpless Karl. They are strong men and women. They are enterprising, they’re innovative and we should be so proud of them.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
You can't deny this is very difficult logistically and financially to help here. But there are some farmers and there are plenty, who say this is too little, too late. How do you respond to that?
PRIME MINISTER:
No one said that to me Karl. Where I've been, I was at the Narromine RSL the night before last. There was enormous support for the help that we're providing. We will continue to provide more as the situation develops. But you had Fiona Simson on just a little while ago. Fiona and I talk all the time. The measures that we have introduced have been developed, you know, through my discussions with her and many other farmers like her.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay, I to have say that I have been personally told that. Again, this is a very, very difficult and big crisis to manage. We had one farmer on the program yesterday in relation to cash payments and this is what he had to say about the cash payments.
FARMER:
To be honest, that's absolutely nothing, but $12,000 doesn't buy a load of grain. Doesn't even buy a load of grain, doesn't even buy a load of hay. $12,000 is not a lot of money, you know, like, that goes nowhere.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
So there are people who do genuinely feel that because they are so tight.
PRIME MINISTER:
Yeah, but Karl, the $12,000, the Farmhouse Household Allowance which the $12,000 is supplementary to, is not designed to be a fodder subsidy. The State Government is providing fodder subsidies.
I mean, with cotton seed it’s has gone up from 340 to over $500 a tonne. A load of hay over $500 a tonne. Obviously $12,000 won't buy you a lot of fodder, that's true. But what we're doing is keeping body and soul together for farming families who cannot afford to put the food on the table. That's where the Farm Household Allowance is directed.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
Okay, families can't access half the money you're offering until what is it, March next year? A lot of it need it now.
PRIME MINISTER:
No. The Farm Household Allowance is available right now. It has been available for years. After I went out in early June to visit drought-affected areas – this has been a very high priority for me and my Government for some time, I can assure you. As you know Lucy and I are in the sheep and cattle business in the Upper Hunter, we understand what drought does. We have been through quite a few droughts over the years. So I was out there in June. We extended the Farm Household Allowance from three years to four years in June. Now we’ve added this supplement to it and we are providing more support for mental health services, we’re also providing support for community grants in the regions. We’re working very closely with farming organisations, including the NFF that Fiona is the President of, to make sure that our support is hitting the mark. But we have our farmers’ back. We stand with them. We support them. We're proud of them.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
And I agree with you, I think this is a very difficult, very wide crisis in which to solve. You can guarantee them, can you look those farmers in the eyes here that we are around today and the farmers that you see, farmers that you saw yesterday, farmers like Edwina? Can you can look them in the face and say, "I'm doing everything I can, right now, for you and this is going to be a long haul"?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, I hope the haul is not as long as we fear. You know, let's hope that the weather forecasts are wrong and we get an early break in the drought. But I fear it will be a long haul, that's certainly what we're being told. The farmers of Australia know that I stand with them. I understand the business of farming. I understand the business of coping with drought. You know, I was shoveling cotton seed on our own place only a couple of months ago. I've just - Karl, believe me, this is a very, very tough time. And this problem that you've got with livestock, how long can you afford to keep them alive with hand feeding? It’s enormously laborious. This is the thing that is important to understand; if you are hand feeding your stock, not only are you spending thousands and thousands of dollars to keep them alive, but you're working harder than ever. So our farmers are exhausted, they're flat out, just keeping body and soul together, just keeping their animals alive. Then of course, if it goes on too long, then they run the risk of selling into a market where prices are falling. On the other hand, if you stop hand feeding and it rains the next week, and the drought breaks, prices go through the roof. How do you restock? Look, I sold too early in '82-‘83. We hung on in the millennium drought and did OK. I can tell you, this drought is longer than any of us expected.
KARL STEFANOVIC:
All right, what the Prime Minister just said is exactly right. You've summed up the situation very well. I just - please, please keep listening to these people. They are struggling. They want to know that they’re being heard, their voices are being heard. As long as you and your Government keep your ears open, I'm sure you’re going to provide as much support as they need and hopefully more, if it gets any worse.
Thank you for your time. We do appreciate it.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks a lot, Karl.