SYDNEY: Financial aid for drought-stricken Austra­lian farmers will be increa­sed to Aus$1.8 billion (US$1.3 billion) as they endure the driest conditions in half a century, the prime minister said on Sunday. Farmers in eastern states are struggling with extreme aridity that has turned green pastures into dust, with the economies of local towns also suffering.

“I want to say to our farmers, we have your back. There is no set-and-forget,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters in the New South Wales town of Forbes.

Graziers in Forbes, some 390 kilometres west of Sydney, are among those battling the lack of rain.

“We are constantly working to ensure that you get every support you can, and of course let’s all pray for rain,” Turnbull added.

While droughts are not unco­­mmon in Australia, the length and severity of the dry conditions have depleted far­mers’ food stocks. With grass unable to grow, some graziers have had to hand-feed their cattle and sheep, sell off stock to keep going, or even shoot their animals as they do not want them to suffer or cannot afford to feed them.

There has been an outpouring of support from other parts of the vast continent. On Friday, a convoy of 23 trucks carrying 2,300 bales of hay for over 200 farmers arrived in NSW from Western Australia state more than 3,500 kilometres away.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2018