Impacted farmers in the Scenic Rim now have access to grants of up to $75,000 to assist with their bushfire recovery, however this assistance has been announced more than five months after the devastating Beechmont/Canungra fires.
Member for Scenic Rim, Jon Krause said he has fought for this cash assistance to be activated for farmers since November.
“It was clear some of the farmers desperately needed help after fires,” said Jon.
“It seems the Government spoke to almost nobody out here to find out about their losses – basically they failed to do their job and I make no apology for calling them out on that.”
“I didn’t stop fighting for our region though and I thank all those farmers who told Scott (Buchholz) and I about their losses so we could make the case together – unlocking the grants yesterday,” he said.
Initially, Canungra and Beechmont were not included in the grant scheme, however further lobbying by Jon saw the area expanded to include these districts.
The grants are being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) and are available to bushfire-impacted farmers in the Bundaberg, Gladstone, Gympie, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Noosa, Scenic Rim, Somerset, Southern Downs, Sunshine Coast, and Toowoomba local government areas.
Federal Minister for Emergency Management David Littleproud said the grants would help impacted farmers get their businesses and livelihoods back on track.
“These fires came on the back of prolonged drought and have been a devastating blow to farmers that have held on for so long,” he said.
Queensland Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the grants would provide certainty for farmers struggling to make ends meet.
“These grants are a vote of confidence in our primary producers and demonstrate their importance in our regional communities. I encourage all impacted farmers in the activated regions to apply,” he said.
For more information on the eligibility for primary producer grants contact the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority on 1800 623 946.
