Submission on the Discussion Paper: Developing a Commonwealth Strategy for Drought Preparedness and Resilience

We are concerned that the strategy is principally focused on Commonwealth drought policy
rather than being a collaborative effort of all governments responsible for drought policy and
programs. Without cross jurisdictional agreement, policies implemented at the Federal level
can be impacted, if not undermined, by policies implemented at the state and territory level.
NFF appreciates the difficulty of achieving cross jurisdictional agreement on any policy, let
along one as difficult as drought policy. Nevertheless, the frequency with which Australian
governments have found themselves addressing the same issues, the devastating impact of poor
drought policy on farming families, and the importance of securing long-term sustainability of
Australia’s food and fibre production are issues of such importance, we would hope a
collaborative approach to devising a national drought strategy was warranted.
While the NFF considers the current drought highlights the need for a comprehensive, national
drought policy, we do appreciate the value of a drought strategy to the development of a
comprehensive policy. For this reason, the NFF looks forward to incorporating the final
strategy into its work to develop a comprehensive, national drought policy.