Australian PM boosts funding for drought resilience programs

Canberra, May 7 (IANS) Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday announced half a billion Australian dollars in funding to help farmers and regional communities better prepare for future droughts.

Albanese and Murray Watt, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and for Emergency Management, have committed 519.1 million Australian dollars ($344 million) for the Future Drought Fund (FDF), Xinhua news agency reported.

The FDF was established in 2019 amid a major drought that began in 2017 to provide secure, continuous funding for drought resilience initiatives.

As part of the funding boost, Albanese and Watt said in a joint statement that the FDF and its objectives have been restructured to acknowledge climate change as a driver of longer and more severe droughts.

"It's vital that we support Australian farmers and producers to be prepared for more severe weather impacts," Albanese said.

"By doing the work now our rural and regional communities are not just reacting to events as they unfold, but will have considered plans to make them more resilient to climate change."

A 2023 review of the FDF by the Productivity Commission -- the government's principal review and advisory body -- recommended a major overhaul of the fund to focus on projects that have a lasting public benefit.

It found that the FDF was a solid foundation for drought resilience but said greater planning and more targeted programmes were needed to deliver transformational change and community benefits.

Watt said on Tuesday that the additional funding for the new and improved FDF would make farmers and rural communities more self-reliant when drought hits.