HARPER WARNED RE DROUGHT RELIEF
15.04.1989



By: KOCH A

Harper warned in 1987 over drought relief By TONY KOCH THE Primary Industries Minister, Mr Harper, was warned by State Treasury in 1987 over mismanagement of the rural drought assistance scheme.
The warning, in a Cabinet minute from the then acting Premier and Treasurer, Mr Gunn, said that failing to abide by the scheme's guidelines could lead to the Federal Government taking it over.
Treasury issued the warning after Mr Harper recommended several ineligible shires be declared drought-stricken.
Cabinet approved the recommendation, covering Murilla, Tara, Bendemere, and parts of Bungil, Warroo and Taroom shires.
In 1987-88, drought subsidies of $14,042,000 were paid to Queensland pastoralists.
In the period from July 1, 1988 to March 31, 1989, a further $14,573,000 was paid.
Last month, the Solicitor-General's office began investigating seven cases of alleged abuse of drought aid claims to assess whether prosecutions would be launched.
They concern hundreds of thousands of dollars claimed in freight subsidies by graziers in the Mt Isa, Marlborough, Channel Country, Dingo, Tambo and Cloncurry areas.
When a property or a shire is drought-declared, livestock owners are paid 50 percent subsidies for transport costs to move stock to agistment or slaughter. They also become eligible for subsidies on fodder, road and rail freight, and for concessional loans for restocking and carry-on finance when the drought breaks.
Graziers allegedly over-stated numbers of stock trucked from drought properties, or transferred stock between properties for restocking or resale, thereby not qualifying for the drought aid.
One allegedly wanted the subsidy to truck several thousand heifers to a property he had bought in the Northern Territory. It was argued he was just stocking his new purchase. In a further development yesterday, a recently-retired Primary Industries Department stock inspector said the drought subsidy scheme was widely abused.
Mr Clive Sellwood, an inspector for 34 years, said some large property owners received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants without any checks on their claims.
On Wednesday, the Finance Minister, Senator Walsh, said the Federal Government would administer the relief schemes because of Queensland ""rorts''.
He said: ""Queens land authorities regarded drought relief as a Commonwealth taxpayer-provided slush fund for the National Party to distribute as patronage and reward.''
He said a leaked memo from the Queensland DPI drought secretariat which exposed widespread and systematic abuse of drought assistance was ""the final straw''.
That memo was written to stock inspectors by the Queensland DPI Drought Secretariat director, Mr Dan Daly.
Rural-based stock inspectors process the drought applications and claims.
Mr Harper last month transferred Mr Daly and replaced him.
The allegations have been referred to the Queensland Public Accounts Committee for investigation after the memo was referred to the committee by Mr Courtice (ALP, Hinkler).
The Treasury warning to Mr Harper on August 24, 1987, said there was little doubt the drought-declared areas were experiencing difficult conditions, but none qualified for assistance in terms of guidelines for Commonwealth-State natural disaster relief assistance.
The Cabinet submission said: ""The Commonwealth has increasingly taken a particular interest in the administration of disaster assistance, including drought, within Queensland and elsewhere.
""Any absence of clear guidelines for area drought declarations or aberrations from the established guidelines could well provoke Commonwealth intervention into the State's administration of drought relief. This must be avoided.''
Mr Sellwood said it was a travesty that a DPI officer of Mr Daly's standing should be made a scapegoat when he was just doing his job.
He said subsidies should be scrapped and replaced with long-term, low interest loans.
""This would avoid the widespread misuse of the scheme,'' Mr Sellwood said.
""You could drive a truck through some of the holes in the scheme, and some owners have been getting away with hundreds of thousands of dollars for years. It's non-repayable: money given to them on the strenght of an application form, and no checks made.
""A stock inspector in a rural area can't physically check that the several thousand cattle claimed to have been moved have been, and the real rort is that the bigger beneficiaries also own their own trucking companies. They are getting it both ways and nobody is able to police a single dollar that is paid.
""Public servants are supposed to be watchdogs for the public purse, keeping an eye on these yobbos, yet you get an instance like this where Dan Daly is made a scapegoat just because he did his job diligently and stepped on some big toes.''
Mr Harper could not be contacted for comment last night.