Prime minister says Joyce has done his job as he announces a further $100m in drought funding

Scott Morrison has defended Barnaby Joyce’s performance as his drought envoy, saying he was not asked to “write a book”, but provide “candid feedback” and any criticism was from people caught up in “semantics”.

Morrison, who hopped off the plane from the United States following his official visit and on to another one to visit a drought-stricken Queensland community to announce a further $100m in drought funding, said Joyce had done his job and the issue had been “over-analysed”.

“Well Barnaby, when I appointed him to this role, provided constant reports I mean, I didn’t ask him to write a book, I asked him to give us some advice on what he was hearing from farmers and that is what he did, and he did that through quite a bit of correspondence with me, and regular meetings with me and he presented all of that to cabinet,” he said, while batting away flies in Dalby.

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“And that was his job. It wasn’t supposed to be an author and a publisher, it was candid feedback from drought-affected communities around the country, and he did his job and he did it well and I thank him and so I think people are getting a bit caught up in the semantics of a final report.

“There were many reports, I can assure you of that, as there was from the national co-ordinator general, and we are working our way through that for a response to his suggestions as well. So I think people have over analysed that issue.”

According to his own travel records, Joyce spent less than three weeks on the ground in drought-affected communities outside his own electorate while engaged as the prime minister’s special envoy on drought, including charging tax payers $2,600 for a charter flight to open a machinery field day, 300km from Melbourne.

After David Littleproud confirmed he could not provide the parliament with Joyce’s report, as requested by Labor, as “he did not prepare a final report, and as such, no document exists,” the opposition went on the attack, declaring Joyce’s role to be a farce.

Joyce angrily defended his work, and said he had sent regular text messages to the prime minister reporting what he had found.

That seemed to surprise Morrison, who responded to a journalist’s question asking about the text messages with “well, you said text message, not me, I said he wrote to us, he presented reports . ..” before pivoting when told it was Joyce who had referred to text messages.

“Well he did,” Morrison said, barely skipping a beat.

“And Barnaby is a master of all forms of communication. He spoke to me on the phone, he spoke to me in my office, he presented to cabinet, he wrote me letters about this issue, which is what I asked him to do, so it was a pretty comprehensive set of advice that we received, and I was happy to receive it and it has informed much of what we have done.”

Morrison would not say when any information on what Joyce reported would be provided, saying it was part of the normal processes of any other cabinet document.

He said the parts of the additional drought package announced on Friday were crafted following Joyce’s advice, including the extension of the drought communities program, and additional funding for rural financial councillors and addressing weeds and pests, adding “I would say he was pretty optimal”.

The additional drought funding was timed for Morrison’s arrival back in the country, with the prime minister having made reference to his Queensland trip in his final press conference in the US, in response to a question about what he had learnt about America during his visit.

Kath Sullivan (@KathSully) The PM was asked today what the most surprising part of his time in the US was and he answered by saying he is going to visit drought affected farmers In Australia ASAP. pic.twitter.com/l41DSt8YTZ

Just over half of the $100m package will go to the Farm Household Allowance, which has been subjected to incremental administrative changes since Littleproud took hold of the portfolio governing it.

The latest changes aim to continue to simplify the process, which enables assistance to be paid to eligible farmers, at the Newstart rate.

Another $33m of the latest package will extend the drought community support initiative, which sees charities, including St Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army, provide emergency financial support of up to $3,000 to eligible farmers. Charities are often used during natural disasters to administer funds, to ensure the money is provided as quickly as possible.

The number of local government areas able to access federal government assistance for infrastructure, including for water, as well as provide mental health support for residents, was also increased.

Anthony Albanese said while the latest support from the government would be welcomed by communities it was “too little, too late”, from Morrison.

“He cut $3.9bn from the Building Australia Fund, and now he’s announcing that $100m of that $3.9bn is to be brought forward,” Albanese said.

“We said at the time that [drought] legislation was being debated … that the $100m per year should not start in a year’s time. It’s not like the drought has just happened, it has been here for years, under this government’s watch and this is too little too late. But we welcome any assistance for our farming community. They’re doing it tough and it’s about time the government recognise that and act.”

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The National Farmers’ Foundation did welcome the government’s announcement, but said communities needed a “new approach”, repeating its calls for a national drought policy.

“We need a comprehensive and enduring national approach to drought that focuses on preparedness and resilience measures. We need an approach that mandates the assessment of the effectiveness of drought measures and allows for improvements when measures fall short,” NFF head Tony Mahar said.



“It’s absolutely crucial that we have a coordinated approach that ensures all voices are heard and that the responsibility of managing drought is shared across government, industry and community.”

