South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas has declined to officially declare a drought in the state, claiming that his administration’s drought relief package represented the “largest in South Australia’s history.”

Earlier this month, Naracoorte Lucindale mayor Patrick Ross and local accountant Abby Miller made an impassioned plea to the government, urging swift action to aid farmers in the region who were struggling with extreme drought conditions.

Mr Ross highlighted in his statement that the far-reaching effects of the drought had shattered the long-held notion that farmers could consistently cope independently, describing the situation as a full-blown emergency, while Ms Miller urged the premier in a written appeal to formally acknowledge the drought.

Ms Miller emphasised that such a drought declaration was essential to ensure that all impacted sectors within the rural community could receive the support they urgently needed.

This newspaper [The Naracoorte News] asked the premier about the actions his government was taking in response to the challenges confronting farmers, and whether he intended to officially declare a drought.

“To be clear about that, back in 2013 I think it was, the Commonwealth in conjunction with the states put in place a regime to end formal drought declarations in order to be able to get assistance,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“So there has been no regime for formal drought declarations. But I’m happy to make it clear as I have repeatedly, that there is a severe drought in the state of South Australia at the moment.

“And the irony isn’t lost on me that yesterday (May 15), I spent a bit of time getting briefed and contemplating options before the state regarding the floods in the north of the state, yet in the South, we’ve seen some of the driest conditions with one of the worst droughts on record.

“In fact, for some parts of the state over the 12-month period, we’ve never seen less rainfall.”

He said this was exactly why the state government had invested tens of millions of dollars into a drought assistance package.

“…that means that in conjunction with people representing farmers across industry, whether they be livestock, horticulture, grain production, dairy farming, viticulture, we’ve sat down with all those industries and crafted a comprehensive package and that was announced of course a couple of weeks ago, on top of the package we announced in November, last year.

“We continue to monitor the situation. The only thing I’ve wanted as much as the arrest that SAPOL made in the last 24 hours is rain. The state desperately needs rain.”

But Mr Malinauskas said the most powerful thing that any ordinary South Australian could do was to reach out to someone that they knew was suffering because of the drought.

“Don’t underestimate the value of that. In fact, one thing that forms a significant part of the drought assistance package is an investment in mental health services.

“But sometimes, you know, no matter what the government does, it’s hard to replicate what a family member or a friend can do – just picking up the phone and asking someone on the land how they are going, because that can count for a lot.”

Are the current government support/assistance measures available to local farmers sufficient enough, The [Naracoorte] News asked.

“Well, it’s one of the biggest if not the biggest in the state’s history,” the premier claimed.

“We’ve allocated a lot of money to this. But money doesn’t fix every problem. That’s the challenge.

“If it did, we’d put more into it. The one thing we want more than anything is rain. And no one can make that happen. But we’re all praying for it.”

Opposition: Declare drought a disaster

Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia told this newspaper [The Naracoorte News] that he stood proudly with the farmers in the region advocating for more support, delivered how it was needed and when it was needed because the drought was having a significant impact on regional communities right across the state.

“We won’t stop fighting for our regional communities until this government finally listens and delivers support that has an impact,” Mr Tarzia said.

He joined the calls made by Mr Ross and Ms Miller in declaring a drought.

“There is no doubt that declaring these conditions a drought would unlock further funding and support.

“It’s time for the premier Malinauskas to declare the drought a disaster and stand with our farmers.”

Mr Tarzia toured the state last week, and said to stand in the middle of a bone-dry paddock with distraught farmers made him realise how much was on the line for farming families across the state.

“It’s clear that conditions hit a crisis point months ago, and farmers have been contacting our offices daily, describing their frustration at the tone-deaf response from the Labor government.”

In a statement, shadow minister for Primary Industries, Nicola Centofanti said the shocking reality of the conditions facing farmers was heartbreaking.

Dr Centofanti said farmers were going to extreme lengths just to survive the current conditions, including destocking livestock because they could no longer afford to keep them alive, attempting to sell off parts of their farms to pay debts off, purchasing feed at record prices due to limited supply, spending every cent they have on feed and seed, and coordinating their own hay runs from interstate, with supply now at record lows.

“Here’s the truth – with the political will, the government can declare this drought an emergency. They’re just choosing not to,” Dr Centofanti said.

“This is not just about financial support for our farmers, it goes beyond that. We need to safeguard the future of the agricultural industry here in South Australia because our food security is at stake.

“Our farmers don’t need platitudes, they need relief from government fees and charges, subsidies for water carting, or low or no-interest loans for essentials such as fodder and fertiliser.”

Dr Centofanti said a relief package should not be tied up in red tape with restrictive eligibility criteria that made it impossible to access.

“Farmers need support to get support.”

This article appeared in The Naracoorte News, 28 May 2025.
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