Mr J. BULL (Sunbury) — I am also very pleased to rise to contribute to debate on the Rural Assistance Schemes Bill 2016. We know that the purpose of the bill is to do the following, as the previous member has mentioned: to establish the Rural Assistance Commissioner to administer state and commonwealth rural assistance schemes on behalf of the state of Victoria; to facilitate the transfer of property, rights and liabilities of the Rural Finance Corporation of Victoria to the Rural Assistance Commissioner and provide for the wind-up of the rural finance corporation; to provide the Rural Assistance Commissioner with the power to delegate any of its functions in relation to rural assistance schemes to secretaries of other departments; to repeal the Rural Finance Act 1988 and the Young Farmers’ Finance Council Act 1979; and finally, to make consequential amendments to the Estate Agents Act 1980 and the Subdivision Act 1988.

The Rural Assistance Commissioner will preserve and enhance elements of the rural finance corporation but will end the waste of employing a board of directors to supervise just one employee. The commissioner will be an advocate for the needs of rural communities and provide a single, powerful voice in government for people who are experiencing hardship in regional Victoria and require assistance.

I take this opportunity to put on the public record my support for our wonderful farmers right across Victoria. My electorate is home to many of them. Although not considered a regional or rural area as such, Sunbury does have quite a number of farms on its outskirts, and many friends and friends of the family own such farms. I know how very hard these people work each and every day. When I was growing up, my father, who was a surveyor, spent a lot of time working around regional and rural Victoria, and he would often talk of his interactions with the farming community. On visits to see him when he worked away I certainly got a sense of the great work that is done right across the state.

Those on this side of the house understand that life on the farm is hard work and know that, through droughts, floods and low yields, constant stress can be associated with the farming community. The government assistance packages are vital.

The other important area that we should mention — and I know that other speakers this afternoon have touched on it quite briefly — is the mental health of farmers, which I am sure all members of the house would agree is particularly important. It is something that I know members want to see improved. Obviously there are those seasonal conditions that I mentioned, the threat of fire, flood and of course drought, which play a significant role in terms of mental health for farmers. That is something that is obviously of great concern.

There is great fluidity in managing farms on a year-to-year basis, and I think that all members of the house would agree that it is important for the state to understand that the ultimate goal is to ensure that we support our farmers so that their families and their communities are the very best they can be. Ensuring that support from local, state and federal governments and the agencies associated with them is provided at all three levels of government is important. Certainly in our time in office the Minister for Water, the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change and of course the Minister for Agriculture have done significant work in assisting these communities, and I know that that will certainly continue.

We know that the bill before us today has a history that stems from the former government and we on this side of the house, as has been mentioned, do not have a problem with asset recycling, but it needs to be done carefully and thoughtfully. We know that because of a process of no scrutiny, no consultation and no competitive tender there was a great deal of concern around announcements made by the former government, announcements that have led to this bill today. Almost no thought was given to the ongoing needs of the rural communities experiencing hardship. You may not be someone who has grown up on a farm, you may not be someone who has experience on a farm each and every day, but I do not think that necessarily means you are not someone who can understand farmers, a farmer’s perspective and a farmer’s point of view. That is something on which all members, I hope, would agree with me.

If we look at what has been delivered thus far in our time in office, there has been considerable investment; for example, $1.3 billion for regional rail services. As I mentioned, the Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Regional Development announced last month the support for the dairy farmers package — $11.4 million. This was a result of the decision by Murray Goulburn and Fonterra respectively to cut the prices paid to suppliers. That has received a great deal of media attention. I know that all residents in my electorate would want to see support for the dairy industry be the very best it can be. There is individual ownership but there is also the responsibility of the state to provide very important assistance packages to allow our farmers to grow and prosper and do the very best they can.

On top of that there have been significant announcements around drought assistance packages and support for the mental health of our farmers that we know is incredibly important. Just last year the Minister for Agriculture and the Minister for Water announced a new package of support measures for farmers affected by drought, and we know that there is $220 000 to deliver mental health first aid training across the 10 identified drought-affected local council areas to implement local community engagement and support measures. On top of this there is $270 000 for additional rural financial counsellors and $300 000 for a State Schools Relief program to provide those in drought-affected communities with uniforms, shoes and other school items.

In the context of this bill it is important to let the record reflect the Andrews Labor government’s commitment to ensuring that our farming communities in rural and regional Victoria are wholeheartedly supported. We stand with them and we stand by them. In researching and having a look at the commitment from this side of the house and the Andrews Labor government it is certainly my view that this support makes a significant difference in ensuring that, as I have mentioned, members on this side of the house are not city centric as The Nationals often claim.

When you go through the list and have a look at all of these commitments — and I can see the honourable member over on the other side nodding his head and agreeing with me; there is another Bull that would probably agree — —

An honourable member interjected.

Mr J. BULL — That is right, exactly — city living, country style. That is exactly right, member for Broadmeadows.

When you look at the facts, the Sunbury community is unique in that it is 40 to 45 minutes from the CBD but there is a great country feel to the community. I know that the member for Macedon would certainly agree. When you go through step by step and look at the investment and the support, all of the things the Andrews Labor government has done since coming to office in November 2014, I think the results speak for themselves. The Minister for Water, the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change and the Minister for Agriculture have thus far done an outstanding job.

The Andrews government knows the importance of our rural and regional communities. Towns throughout Victoria are made up of individuals with great heart and great passion. We support these communities both in good times and in bad. I know that the work of the Rural Assistance Commissioner is extremely important because so many rural Victorians, as I mentioned this afternoon, rely on those state and commonwealth support packages to do the great work they do, the very best work. I think all members on this side of the house would support them in that, and I commend the bill to the house.