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Drought PreparationThe Western Division has thankfully now received fourth year Exceptional Circumstances rollovers which is an excellent outcome and one which is critical to our members. In addition the Council has successfully lobbied for the waiving of Western Lands Rents for 06/07 and the waiving of the Wild Dog Rates (approx. $1.2 million) for 2006. This is an excellent outcome as the benefit is spread across all western division producers. With some areas experiencing good rains in the second half of 2005 (and a hope that this would continue throughout 2006) the Council wished to focus on Drought Preparation to ensure that the Western Division members can be assisted to prepare their enterprises for future drought events. Unfortunately some areas of the division have not had any real break and many other areas have now returned to desperately dry conditions. If conditions in these areas continue to deteriorate approaching the next round of EC cut-off dates further work will be needed to ensure adequate assistance is available for these producers who have had a very dry run. Various other approaches to drought management are also being examined and the Council is keen to see supporting trials of such schemes to ascertain their practicalities for our Western Division Members. |
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Priority Issue 5
