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Government Drought Support

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  • Productivity Commission

Abstract

Many Australian farmers and rural communities have been experiencing hardship from the latest severe and prolonged drought. While this is not new to dryland farming, 'irrigation drought' is uncharted territory. Australia has always had a variable climate, with drought being a recurring feature. Looking to the future, experts predict higher temperatures and, for some regions, more frequent periods of exceptionally low rainfall. Most farmers are sufficiently self-reliant to manage climate variability. The National Drought Policy's (NDP) Exceptional Circumstance (EC) declarations and related drought assistance programs do not help farmers improve their self-reliance, preparedness and climate change management. Governments need to commit to a long term reform path that recognises that the primary responsibility for managing risks, including from climate variability and change, rests with farmers. Similar recommendations from the previous reviews of the NDP have not been adopted. To ensure that this new policy direction is credible and enduring: the NDP should be replaced with extended objectives for Australia’s Farming Future; and an intergovernmental agreement with independent monitoring and financial incentives for complying with agreed commitments should be established.

Suggested Citation

  • Productivity Commission, 2009. "Government Drought Support," Inquiry Reports, Productivity Commission, Government of Australia, number 46.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:prodir:46
    Note: 486 pages
    as

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    File URL: http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/86275/drought-support.pdf
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    File URL: http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/drought/report
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Kingwell, Ross S. & Xayavong, Vilaphonh, 2017. "How drought affects the financial characteristics of Australian farm businesses," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 61(3), July.
    3. Atifa Asghari & Yuriy Kuleshov & Andrew B. Watkins & Jessica Bhardwaj & Isabella Aitkenhead, 2021. "Improving drought resilience in Northern Murray-Darling Basin farming communities: Is forecast-based financing suitable?," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 109(1), pages 1221-1245, October.
    4. W Neil Adger & Jon Barnett, 2009. "Four Reasons for Concern about Adaptation to Climate Change," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(12), pages 2800-2805, December.
    5. Adamson, David & Oss-Emer, Max & Quiggin, John, 2011. "Property Rights and Water Buy Back in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin," Risk and Sustainable Management Group Working Papers 149883, University of Queensland, School of Economics.
    6. Ghahramani, Afshin & Kingwell, Ross S. & Maraseni, Tek Narayan, 2020. "Land use change in Australian mixed crop-livestock systems as a transformative climate change adaptation," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    7. Lisa Cowan & Geoff Kaine & Victor Wright, 2013. "The Role of Strategic and Tactical Flexibility in Managing Input Variability on Farms," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 470-494, July.
    8. Walcott, James J, 2019. "Multiple and sequential land use: A national policy for Australia?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Freebairn, John W., 2010. "Markets, Governments and Agriculture," 2010 Conference (54th), February 10-12, 2010, Adelaide, Australia 59073, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    10. John Freebairn, 2024. "Natural disasters and economic policy challenges," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 5-15, March.
    11. David A. Fleming‐Muñoz & Stuart Whitten & Graham D. Bonnett, 2023. "The economics of drought: A review of impacts and costs," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(4), pages 501-523, October.
    12. Linda Botterill & Michael Hayes, 2012. "Drought triggers and declarations: science and policy considerations for drought risk management," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 64(1), pages 139-151, October.
    13. Botterill, Linda Courtenay & Chapman, Bruce & Kelly, Simon, 2017. "Revisiting revenue contingent loans for drought relief: government as risk manager," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 61(3), July.
    14. Robert G. Chambers & Simone Pieralli & Yu Sheng, 2020. "The Millennium Droughts and Australian Agricultural Productivity Performance: A Nonparametric Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(5), pages 1383-1403, October.
    15. Boyd Hunter & Matthew Gray & Ben Edwards, 2013. "The Use of Social Surveys to Measure Drought and the Impact of Drought," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 419-432, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    drought; irrigation; rainfall; drought assistance programs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

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