Page 4682 - Week 12 - Thursday, 1 November 2018
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only Canberra winery? I will refrain from mentioning all of the wineries for fear of forgetting one. But I must say there are not many I have not tried.
For anyone who would like to be more familiar with Canberra region wines, I suggest a visit to the Canberra Wine House, which is located within the Dickson Tradies. It is an excellent club that contributes to the community, not only through the scheme and a range of other charitable works but also by providing full penalty rates to its staff and maintaining a diverse stock of Canberra region wines.
I would not want to get caught droning on, though, so, in closing, I would like to thank all of our primary producers and encourage Canberrans to support them at every chance they get. By supporting local primary producers, we support our local economy and, in turn, each other.
MR WALL (Brindabella) (4.21): I am pleased to speak to this matter of public importance today. I am actually quite aware of the importance of primary producers in the ACT region and the need for the government to do more to support our local farmers, particularly during this period of drought. While the ACT does not spring to mind as a jurisdiction with much in the way of primary production, many niche primary producers have established well-regarded farming properties and businesses that come in all shapes and sizes.
Members may be aware of my calls recently for the ACT government to support local farmers by delivering a drought assistance package which matched the level of support on offer in New South Wales. While some assistance has been offered to local farmers, it still does not match the level of support that is on offer across the border. Farmers across the country are being devastated by one of the worst droughts in decades and the ACT is not immune. Farmers here continue to be impacted by the same conditions, with many farming families fighting to keep stock or crops alive on a daily basis.
Whilst the ACT government has come the party to a certain extent in providing some relief for our rural leaseholders, issues are still being raised about the restrictive eligibility criteria for drought transport subsidies. Farmers in the ACT are continuing to do it tough. Just last week, the Canberra Times reported a local farmer in my electorate, Andrew Geikie, as saying that a lack of rainfall has forced farmers to make their last round of big decisions at the start of October, with the end of December likely to be another turning point for many farmers in the region. The article stated:
Having de-stocked by about 25 per cent ahead of the winter, he decided not to de-stock further this time around and bought fodder including hay to keep his animals going.
Mr Geikie said he also decided to wean about 2000 lambs early as a result of the drought.
He went on to say in the article:
It’s a very dynamic situation at the moment.
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