New Minister outlines plans in Bourke

Minister for Agricuture and Western NSW Adam Marshall Photo TWH

The newly minted Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall was in Bourke and Brewarrina last week outlining future plans for surviving drought in Western New South Wales.

Mr Marshall, who is also Minister for Western NSW, said the purpose of his visit was to make sure towns like Bourke not only survived the current drought, but were resilient enough to plan for the future.

The Minister said he was keen to talk to landholders, business owners and residents to get input into the government’s new round of drought relief funding.

“Basically, 98 per cent of the state is in drought and everyone knows how debilitating that is for farmers and communities, and anyone in business knows that spending and cash flow is an issue,” Mr Marshall said.

“We are putting together the next drought package – the government has a whole range of programs that all end on June 30 with the new package kicking in from July 1.

“So I am out here for two reasons - to get relationships going with councils and mayors, and also to visit farms to talk about what works well, what we need to tweak, and what we need to potentially do in the next package to provide the most appropriate assistance to get people back on their feet.

Read more in the printed edition of the Western Herald.