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THOUSANDS of farmers and graziers will be paid up to $170,000 to leave the land with dignity in a pre-election boost that underlines the severity of the drought gripping rural Australia.John Howard yesterday announced a doubling of the value of the exit grants as part of a $714 million increase to drought programs, which includes easing the income and assets tests for welfare and financial relief for irrigators and small businesses in the towns.The Prime Minister conceded yesterday the generous package recognised the reality that some farmers would be forced to leave the land.Farmers will now be eligible for exit payments of up to $150,000, grants of $10,000 for retraining and a further $10,000 to cover the costs of moving.As in previous programs, including Farm Help, the payments will be quarantined from bankruptcy claims. Government officials confirmed this would ensure farmers could keep the drought assistance cash if they went broke and not be forced to give the money to creditors."These people are in a desperate situation and they're the heart and soul of our rural communities and we've got to help them," Mr Howard said."It is a big amount of money but every dollar of it is deserved by our farmers. As a nation, we can afford it."As Labor offered bipartisan support for the relief package yesterday, Mr Howard hammered the election theme that the Government could not have afforded such a generous package without the benefit of its strong economic management of the past 11 years.Despite holding a record amount of cash in the tax-favourable accounts the Howard Government introduced to help them ride out tough times, farmers will also be able to earn more off-farm income under the new arrangements.The average farm management deposit was $68,600 in the June quarter, an increase of $2600, or 4 per cent, on the previous record set a year earlier.Water expert Peter Cullen, a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, welcomed the decision to stop "drip-feeding" farmers on unviable land with welfare payments."This is a mechanism for helping people to exit the land, rather than drip-feeding them to stay there," he told The Australian."I don't want to name the areas. I think the market will sort them out. There are some areas that seem almost permanently in drought. We should accept that. This is a new strategy to allow people who want to exit to do so with some dignity."It's all a question of whether it's a drought that's going to end or it's climate change."The exit grants program will not be capped but the Government has budgeted $150 million to help thousands of farmers leave the land.The asset test to secure the payments will be increased to $350,000 after families have sold the family farm, allowing farmers to walk off the land with up to $500,000 if they secure the full grant.Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile stressed no families would be forced by the Government to leave their farms."Can I make the point the Government is not going to intervene and say its time you left your property," Mr Vaile told Sky News."That's a decision individual families need to make themselves. We're just going provide a mechanism to do it with dignity."Mr Vaile angrily denied the boost to farm relief was driven to maximise support for the Howard Government in the lead-up to the election.He also rejected suggestions the drought was necessarily caused by climate change."It's cyclical. We've had severe droughts like this in the past," he said.Under the new assistance package, irrigators in the drought-stricken Murray-Darling Basin will be awarded grants of up to $20,000 each to implement water-management strategies as they battle massively reduced water allocations. The amount of income allowed to be earned off-farm without losing the dole will be doubled from $10,000 to $20,000 and the assets limit for interest rates subsidies would be increased from $473,000 to $750,000. The eligibility of struggling small businesses for assistance will also be extended, to include all towns with populations of up to 10,000 that have a significant reliance on farmers for income. National Farmers Federation chief executive Ben Fargher said the exit payments were prudent, but did not undermine the vital role of Australian farming. "We don't see a vacant landscape as the answer," he said. "We want to make it clear that Australian farmers have not been sitting on our hands waiting for this drought event to come, we have done a lot to better manage climate risk through irrigation systems, new cropping system. We are big contributor to the economic welfare of this nation." However, the West Australian Farmers Federation grains section president Derek Clauson said the aid would not help those farmers outside the exceptional circumstances declared zone.As in the days of Noah...
