Maranoa Local Drought Committee member opens up on assessment process

Flinders Shire Mayor Jane McNamara questioned the part-revocation of that shire in May, describing it as pre-emptive, and followed up last week with a call for a review of the system.

The commentary that followed queried the 'secretive' nature of the committees' work, suggesting that it resulted in distrust of the process.

The membership of committees around Queensland is not made public, and Agriculture Minister Mark Furner has in the past said that the confidential Local Drought Committee process ensured that decisions were made on rainfall, pasture conditions and other local factors, and weren't political decisions.

It's also thought that knowledge of who local drought committee members were would lead to pressure to make decisions that would financially advantage people.

However, Mr Bryant, who owns a property south of Morven, along with wife Rosie, has been a member of the Maranoa committee for 12 years and said he had never hidden the fact that he was on that committee.

"We ring around when a meeting's coming up," he said.

"We represent different parts of the shire, because it's so big, and we like to get people's views on the season and how they're going on their place.

"I'm not sure what happened up north, but I don't want people throwing a blanket over the whole lot of us.

"The idea that we're secretive and all-powerful is rubbish."

RELATED: Central Highlands at centre of drought stoush

Mr Bryant said committee members came to meetings with rainfall charts, and those of others in their area, and that local DAF officers supplemented that with satellite images from the Long Paddock detailing grass growth.

"We base our decision on whether people will be able to get through winter with enough feed until the early season storms could be expected," he said.

"I don't know how you could make the process better.

"When I ring people I tell them I want their feedback. They know I'm on the committee and I've never had any problems."

According to Mr Bryant, the decision made by the Maranoa committee to revoke that shire's drought status in May had been an easy one for all involved.

"A hundred per cent of the area had had rain, enough that we could revoke the drought status," he said.

"Within our group, everyone was in a position where we couldn't not pull the shire off the drought list.

"One spot came up, around Muckadilla, where water wasn't running into dams but that was because grass was holding it up.

"They had enough feed to go through to the summer months."

He said the committee was also careful to assess that people weren't loaded up with stock and creating their own drought, which was why rainfall records were so important.

Mr Bryant said the committee had discussed partial shire drought revocations, using the Maranoa River as a border, but decided not to go that way, feeling that it would disadvantage some.

"We just want to keep it simple and not segregate the shire," he said. "Individual drought declarations are an important tool too, for people whom might be in a pocket missing out."

He said the committee was aware country couldn't recover from a long drought in one year, saying that it was the 2021 spring rain that had helped boost grass growth in the region.

"January-February was hot but everyone said it was amazing how the country responded, and a lot of country is lightly stocked," he said.

Maranoa's LDC is made up of six committee members, two of them reasonably new, according to Mr Bryant, who said one member had sold up and moved on and another decided it was time for someone else to undertake the role.

Mr Bryant acknowledged there could be a temptation to leave a shire drought declared so that ongoing subsidies could be accessed, but said the new system meant people could apply for assistance to relieve drought symptoms at any time.

Earlier this year, north Queensland rural financial counsellor Rachel Bock reminded droughted producers that opting into the new drought preparedness assistance measures would essentially take away their access to the Drought Relief Assistance Scheme.

Under DRAS, existing drought declared properties may be eligible for up to $50,000 per property, per financial year, for fodder and water freight subsidies and the Emergency Water Infrastructure Rebate until their drought status is revoked, or they opt into the new scheme.

Mr Bryant said a lot of country in the Maranoa region was now farming, and drought declarations didn't help them a lot.

"All the subsidies are geared towards breeding stock," he said.

He said the Maranoa LDC probably wouldn't meet again until the end of the growing season.

ALSO IN THE NEWS: