State to speed up Bundarra EC application

Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay has been informed the application for an Exceptional Circumstances declaration for the drought stricken Bundarra basin is being processed by the state government as a matter of urgency.
The MP said he had received an assurance that despite the changeover of Primary Industry Ministers there would be no delay in preparing the state application to the federal government.
“I understand it takes a week or more for the state to process the information and it will then be up to the Commonwealth to respond quickly to provide relief for the Bundarra farming communities who are doing it so tough,” he said.
“It’s difficult to understand why, despite a continuing serious drought, Bundarra lost its EC standing in March and it has taken all this time for the community to be assessed to meet the Federal criteria to make another application.”
Mr Torbay condemned the tangled web of red tape and bureaucratic stone walling that stood between rural communities and the assistance they desperately needed.
“The bureaucrats appear to be adopting delay tactics in the hope it will eventually rain and they won’t have to do anything,” he said.
“It is unacceptable to set up a process with so many hurdles and obstructions to negotiate and it should be reviewed.
“The Bundarra farming community has been battling drought for a long time. Dams are drying up. Stock are dying. Farmers are finding it difficult to pay premium prices for stock feed.
“Families are facing Christmas wondering whether they can afford even the basic groceries. It is an untenable situation.”
Mr Torbay said most of the Bundarra basin had received less than half its annual 32 inch rainfall again this year.
He will meet with a group of affected farmers next week to discuss the situation.
“We’ll certainly have reforming this appalling EC process as a top priority on the agenda ,” he said.
At present Bundarra basin farmers receive a state freight subsidy from the state government. Through the federal EC program they would receive an interest subsidy on existing loans and CentreLink funding to assist with household expenses.