With the region to be hit with heatwave conditions from today as farmers continue to struggle with fodder and water supplies the urgency of drought assistance becomes imperative.
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For whatever bizarre reason Singleton Local Government Area continues to be excluded from Federal drought assistance packages.
The latest misstep involves the $3,000 support grants in Round 2 of the Drought Community Support Initiative.
Singleton LGA according to a certain criteria is apparently is not drought impacted.
A spokesman for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development said financial assistance under the DCSI Round 2 is being delivered by The Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Society, and is currently available to households in the LGAs identified under the Drought Communities Programme (DCP) Extension.
Singleton Council is not currently eligible for DCP Extension and therefore, DCSI is not available in that LGA.
Nor is the Mid North Coast Council where devastating fires occurred last month nor areas further up the coast also severely impacted by bushfires.
Angry at the continued exclusion of her Shire Mayor Sue Moore wrote to the Federal Drought Minister David Littlerproud on November 20, 2019 saying residents were disappointed and dismayed that our farming community is not being supported the same as our neighbouring areas.
Cr Moore said the Department of Primary Industries describes the entire Singleton LGA as being in either intense drought or drought
"It is our belief that we should be eligible for funding to minimise the impacts of the current drought conditions and future proof ourselves for future droughts, " she wrote.
Cr Moore called on Singleton LGA to be included in the Drought Community Programme and also for famers to access the cash payments in the latest Drought Community Support Initiative.
To date Cr Moore has not received a response from the Minister and with Singleton farmers missing out o the DSCI Round 2 funding she remains angry and frustatrated with the continued neglect of our Shire.
Commenting on the local situation Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the Federal Government's credibility on drought is in tatters after revelations it ignored Bureau of Meteorology advice before allocating $1 million in drought funding to Moyne Shire Council in Victoria in September.
Moyne Shire infamously refused to accept the funds, with the Mayor stating at the time that his region wasn't in drought whereas Singleton is in drought but no funding.
Freedom of Information disclosures reveal the Government used a different definition of drought to that used by the Bureau of Meteorology, and then handed $1 million to Moyne Shire Council under the Drought Communities Program Extension when obviously they were not in drought.
The documents released under FOI reveal emails between the BoM and the Department of Infrastructure in late September, in which the offices discuss how to define a drought by rainfall deficiency.
The Infrastructure Department allowed itself to select any 12 months in a 24 month time frame, as opposed to the BoM which measures 12 consecutive months of rainfall deficiency.
A senior officer at the BoM settled the dispute on October 1, 2019, with an email to the Infrastructure Department: "I retain the view that the criteria that have been used by Infrastructure are problematic. It is feasible for a few very poor months (occurring in usually high rainfall months) to suggest that an area is "in drought" even if rainfall in the following 20+ months is average to favourable."
The officer's assessment of the Department's methodology came after the email of September 30 2019, where the BoM's Public Affairs Manager asserted: "As per the Bureau's rainfall deficiency information, Moyne Shire Council has not experienced serious rainfall deficiency during the past two years."
This misuse of rainfall data by Minister Littleproud follows Prime Minister Morrison's recent decision to set up a $50 million 'discretionary fund' allegedly to support projects in LGAs impacted by the drought.
Minister Littleproud has not released any information about how he will allocate the $50 million, deferring all decisions until the New Year. It is likely this fund has been established to allow the Minister room to fund projects in councils that do not meet the Government's arbitrary, unscientific criteria on rainfall and agricultural employment.
Mr Fitzgibbon has written to the Auditor-General requesting an audit of the Government's poor administration of its drought funding programs.