PRUNE DROUGHT AID: REPORT
18.07.1989
By: KOCH A Source: QNP
Prune drought aid: report By TONY KOCH TRANSPORT costs for selling drought-affected stock and some agistment subsidies should be abolished, a Primary Industries Department report has suggested.
The confidential report was completed for the Primary Industries Minister, Mr Harper, by the department's drought assistance review committee, headed by its executive director, Mr Robert Bygott.
A senior departmental officer yesterday said he expected the report to be sent to the parliamentary public accounts committee, which is investigating Mr Harper's administration of drought assistance.
At public accounts committee hearings last week, members were told that large companies employed expert staff who concentrated on maximising drought benefits.
Former department drought secretariat manager Mr Dan Daly said there were specialists in head offices of pastoral companies who handled drought-assistance applications exclusively and knew their eligibility.
Mr Daly said Stanbroke, King Ranch, the AA Company and Sherwin were companies involved. He said overseas investors, including Japanese, bought rural properties because of the available subsidies and the taxation advantages.
Some stock owners had been paid drought subsidies of $330,000 in a year.
Freight subsidies to Queensland drought aid claimants in the year to April 1, 1989, totalled $15,495,237.
A retired deputy director-general of the department, Mr Bryan Woolcock, told the committee he was amazed that there was little written direction on payment of drought subsidies.
""It staggered me that there was no statutory basis for the payment of large sums of money,'' Mr Woolcock said.
The department review committee recommended that: No subsidy be paid for transport costs in forced sales of drought-affected stock but that the movement be registered as a credit for restocking subsidy.
Agistment subsidies be restricted to movements returning to the property of origin _ and movements to agistment be treated as a credit for a restocking subsidy.
Agistment movements between properties in the same ownership be ineligible for subsidy-restocking credit.
Detailed checks of selected aid claims be carried out.
Local drought committees investigate and recommend on contentious claims.
