Sixty-six million dollars in freight subsidies have been given to NSW farmers in the past year, but now questions have arisen over the fate of the scheme.
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It comes after Queensland Agriculture Industry Development Minister Mark Furton said the assistance would be abolished because it was not in line with the national drought plan - an agreement every premier and chief minister signed in December last year.
The nine-page plan, which is in place until 2024 and isn't legally enforceable, states support should focus on measures that promote "long-term preparedness, sustainability, resilience and risk management".
The NSW government introduced a 50 per cent freight subsidy up to the value of $40,000 in July 2018 after repeated calls from the Mercury.
Farmers who called for the subsidy to be introduced felt that the fact Queensland already had one furthered the argument for NSW to follow suit. Since it was introduced more than 6800 farmers have benefited from it. It was capped at 1500 kilometres but that has recently been removed.
NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall told the Mercury freight subsidies would continue, but, he did not say whether it would be part future drought support packages.
"The NSW Government will do whatever it can to stand by our farmers during one of the worst droughts in living memory - and that includes continuing transport subsidies," he said.
Over 97 per cent of NSW is in drought. The notion that these drought subsidies are somehow giving NSW farmers an unfair advantage is absolutely absurd.
Merriwa farmer, and One Day Closer to Rain founder, Cassandra McLaren said freight subsidies were vital and the government should not follow Queensland's lead.
"For the ones that have been able to get it, I don't think that they would have been able to continue to the extent that they have without it. This is the only assistance for them to be able to recoup some of their costs," she said.
"The freight part of buying feed is enormous because of the scale of the drought, it is so widespread and so much of the country is in drought.
"Without it we would have seen a far bigger sell off of cattle and stock and even dying stock because people can't afford to transport the feed."
QLD farmers who are receiving the subsidy will be able to access it until their area is no longer in drought. Farmers who find themselves in drought after next year cannot apply.