Qld: Federal govt offers Qld drought help
By Alex Murdoch
BRISBANE, Dec 22 AAP - The federal government today said it would help out drought-strickenQueensland farmers if the state government would get its facts straight.
A spokesman for federal Agricultural Minister Warren Truss said if Queensland farmerswere in need, the state government should be ensuring the right relief applications weresent to Canberra.
He said there were two relief packages available, one based on rainfall figures andan interim exceptional circumstance package for those ineligible for the former but stillin need.
His comments followed allegations from Queensland Primary Industries and Rural CommunitiesMinister Henry Palaszczuk that the government was discriminating against Queensland farmersafter refusing an aid application on Friday.
Mr Palaszczuk had said some farmers would even find it hard putting food on the tablefor Christmas and he vowed today to keep fighting the federal government to see justicedone.
He said on December 9 the federal government had granted assistance to some farmersin Queensland, but 54 shires later declared drought stricken missed out.
Mr Palaszczuk said all farmers affected by the drought in NSW, South Australia andVictoria, however, had received the grant.
"(Federal Agricultural minister) Warren Truss, somehow or other, who's a Queenslandagricultural minister, has a mindset against farmers in Queensland," Mr Palaszczuk said.
The spokesman said Mr Palaszczuk had confused one type of funding with the other, buthe had not provided the federal government with adequate information for either package.
He said Mr Truss had even sent federal bureaucrats to help with Queensland's applicationslast week.
"The Queensland Government is the only government who hasn't filled in their own interimexceptional circumstance funding applications," he said.
Mr Palaszczuk denied he was yet to provide adequate information to the federal government,stating he had provided past and predicted rainfall patterns to Canberra which provedQueensland had been as badly affected as the other drought-stricken states.
He said he and Premier Peter Beattie had written to the prime minister twice to requestassistance on behalf of the drought-stricken shires.
"Unfortunately we have now received notification from the federal agricultural ministerthat our letter has been unsuccessful," Mr Palaszczuk said.
He said the state government had already chipped in to help the beleaguered farmers,with a raft of new measures to be implemented.
AAP am/sco/de
KEYWORD: DROUGHT QLD NIGHTLEAD
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