Libs Stand “Shoulder to Shoulder with Regional South Australia”
Farmers, wine grape growers and winemakers across South Australia will benefit from $300 million worth of no and low-interest loans from a Hurn Liberal Government, if elected in March.
State Liberal Leader and local Member for Schubert, Ashton Hurn, said the fund was about backing primary producers in, providing immediate, practical support and showing them that a Liberal government would stand “shoulder to shoulder” with regional South Australia.
“We understand the pressure farmers and the wine industry are under right now, and just how tough things have become – I see it first-hand here in the Barossa,” Mrs Hurn said.
“Many are lying awake at night worrying about their livelihoods, their families and the future of their farms, and are being forced to make extremely difficult decisions.
Supporting regional communities right across our State and the farmers and growers who drive our economy is fundamental to what we stand for.”
The Rural Financing Fund will be a formal structure established to deliver concessional financial support to primary producers impacted by severe drought, natural disasters and extraordinary market disruption.
Under the Liberal plan, those eligible will be able to apply for loans of up to $250,000 on a maximum term of 10 years. Loans will be interest-free for the first two years, followed by an interest rate of 2.41%, much lower than the current RIC rate of 5.14%.
The Drought Support Loans and Wine Industry Support Loans will be delivered immediately, ensuring long-term viability for key industries in need of support.
Member for Frome/Ngadjuri, Penny Pratt, said farmers across the Mid-North needed certainty.
“Labor’s approach limits applications to a nine-month window. But anyone who has lived through drought knows recovery takes years, not months,” Ms Pratt said.
“You don’t rebuild a farming business on a government deadline. You rebuild it season by season.”
Ms Pratt said Mid-North communities have shown extraordinary resilience, supporting one another through successive dry years.
“What they need now is a government prepared to stand with them for the long haul. That’s exactly what I have been doing as the local Member.”
