Community resilience must continue in recovery

LAST week I again toured flood-affected regions of Queensland with State Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin.
We saw the destruction of southern Queensland’s second wave of flooding within a month on the Darling Downs at Millmerran, Dalby, and, from the air, at Condamine.
We also met with the mayors of Toowoomba and Western Downs, Peter Taylor and Ray Brown, and visited several dairies and cotton farms while also meeting other farmers at community meetings in Dalby and Millmerran.
As we saw, no one in the region has escaped the impact and the last month or so has been heartbreaking for many family businesses that were hoping for this summer to be a bumper season.
Given the devastation we saw, the tour was difficult for everyone involved. However, it was also an important means for both QFF and politicians to understand the full impact of what is happening, and what is needed for the recovery.
It is a matter of priority to get farm businesses improving their prospects for cash flow and generating income at the earliest opportunity.
This message is getting through to the politicians, but there is a real risk of the recovery being stifled by bureaucratic processes, particularly surrounding the grants and low-interest loan programs.
These grants and loans have a clear aim of getting businesses back on their feet; so now is certainly not the time for red tape and endless bureaucracy. Further it is not the time for old policies to be stand in the way of new, effective and timely additional assistance to be provided.
This is about helping viable farming businesses to recover from an exceptional disaster and getting back to production.
At QFF, we are working with our members and with government officials to cut through the bureaucratic procedures as best we can and ensure the funding gets where it is needed. To this end we have been pushing for a number of weeks for the need to employ industry recovery officers in the regions affected. These local officers would ease the pressure on existing services and ensure helps gets to where it is needed the most.
We are also working towards a means of helping farmers receive debt relief and open up the options for additional recovery grants.
I also want to write about the sensitive issue of mental health, which farmers are facing when dealing with such a stressful situation.
There is a myriad of emotions associated with natural disasters of this magnitude, and none of them is pleasant.
It is an unfortunate fact that blokes on the land will often carry too much weight of a problem without talking about it with others.
It is also remarkable the number of farmers who are approaching the flood with such stoicism and will often remark that “it could be worse”.
That may be true; but there is also no shame in speaking about the scope of a problem at your farm.
Farmers should not self assess their mental health, and if they are worried about problems then it is worth talking to a mate or otherwise services such as Lifeline (131 114) or Beyond Blue (1300 224 636) or Mensline Australia (1300 789 978).
The floods have brought out countless inspiring stories of communities banding together in times of need. That must continue throughout the recovery phase and we must also keep looking out for one another.
If you have a neighbour who you are worried about, then pop in for a visit or give them a call.
The recovery is in its early phase and will last a long time, but with teamwork and a commitment from government then eventually we will be able to get our rural communities back on track. QFF will continue to update flood assistance information on our dedicated page found on our website at www.qff.org.au.au