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Prime Minister Scott Morrison To Announce $100 Million For Drought Relief

Prime Minister Scott Morrison To Announce $100 Million For Drought Relief

Mr Morrison said the drought is his top priority.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Hot off the heels of his trip to America, Australia's Prime Minister is set to announce a massive funding boost to help struggling farmers.

Those living on the land have been doing it tough over the last few years due to a horrific drought that is drying up water supplies and making it difficult to feed livestock.

But Scott Morrison wants to make this his top priority when he lands back into his country by announcing $100 million in drought relief funding.

He and some of his ministers will head to drought affected areas over the next few days to hear from battlers as to what can be done next.

PA

According to the Courier Mail, Mr Morrison said: "I know that things are only getting harder for many farmers and rural communities, and that's why we are taking further action and providing even more support. As I've said before, this isn't set and forget. We need to keep listening and keep taking action.

"We know we can't make it rain, but we must keep finding ways to do everything we can to make life just a bit easier and remove some of the burden.

"That's why our Government is providing more money to help people with bills, more money for counselling and more money to local councils.

"We've got to get more cash into these communities and cut more red tape, making it easier to access support. I will do everything in my power to ease the burden on farmers and their communities.

"That's our Government's promise."

The funding will be split into three sections to ensure it's being received by the right people.

PA

Some of the funds will go into the Farm Household Allowance (FMA), which gives people up to $12,000 in discounted healthcare and counselling. The government has also extended the FMA's threshold for farmers to upgrade their qualifications from $4,000 to $10,000.

The Drought Community Support Initiative will get an extra $33 million. This network provides families up to $3,000 to help pay for food, pay for their electricity bill or put fuel in their work vehicles.

The rest of the cash, $13 million, will go into the Drought Community Program, which will allow 13 local government areas to drive economy growth in local regions.

The news will no doubt be music to people's ears especially as many farmers around the country gear up for what is expected to be a tough summer.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Australia, politics