The Nationals member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, has been invited to join the Victorian government’s dedicated new Drought Response Taskforce as the state sinks deeper into the current drought crisis.
Mr Walsh said when he was approached by Premier Jacinta Allan to join her taskforce, he had no hesitation in accepting.
“This is not about politics; this is about coming up with the best possible solutions for our besieged agricultural industries and I thank the Premier for taking my experience into account in asking me to help,” Mr Walsh says.
“I have spent the past 30 years working in this area as a member of parliament, as an Agriculture and Water Minister and as president of the Victoria Farmers Federation – and before that ran my own farming enterprise, so I am confident I will have plenty of suggestions to benefit this vital taskforce,” he said.
“This is where you truly represent the people, when the politics are put aside and we come together to help everyday Victorians – and that’s what everyone on this taskforce will be doing.”
Mr Walsh says the season break on which farming relies so heavily has failed to materialise at this point, with May’s rainfall now classified as ‘worst case scenario’ and no immediate signs of any improvement.
He says there is also a tragic darker side to the drought, with media reports showing farmers and country advocates sounding warning bells over a steep decline in mental health spreading across regional Victoria as the drought worsens.
“There are increasing reports, and stories I hear, troubling reports, of people under increasing stress, mounting debts, and recent reports of suicide in some farming communities have prompted advocates to call on locals to speak up if they think someone is at risk,” Mr Walsh says.
His assessment has been backed up by VFF president Brett Hosking – who is also on the new taskforce – who says the risk to people’s livelihoods and ability to cope is a real concern.
“We know a farmer takes his own life every 10 days and that incredibly sad statistic only goes up in times of drought, times of extra stress,” Mr Hosking says.
“It’s not something we want to see, and not something we even like talking about, but it is a reality, and it needs to be addressed.”
Both Mr Walsh and Mr Hosking says they are looking forward to seeing the rollout of the taskforce getting into the worst affected areas to get “the important and essential up-close-and-personal understanding of the situation”.
