“Beyond disaster”: Corangamite Shire Councillors call for drought relief overhaul

“We’re holding everything together with rusty barbed wire and baler twine.”

Scotts Creek dairy farmer Jamie Vogels painted this grim picture last Tuesday to describe the last two years of failed seasons, low milk prices for 2025/26, skyrocketing energy prices and mounting debt. 

“We’ve gone from pending disaster to actual disaster, and now beyond disaster into crisis.”

Vogels is also a Corangamite Shire councillor, and he was speaking during the most recent council meeting. It was a powerful account of the compounding pressure on local producers from drought conditions and increased farming costs.

Vogels criticised the federal government for its delayed response, saying calls for enabling support were made as early as August last year, but received little attention until recent media coverage forced the issue into the spotlight.

“Here we are, Albo – we’re made in Australia, and we’re right here, right now,” he told the chamber. “It doesn’t seem that you give a toss about the future of agriculture in this country.”

More than “quick wins” required

Mayor Kate Makin, who sits on the newly formed Drought Response Taskforce through her role with Rural Councils Victoria, outlined early measures implemented in recent state meetings at Camperdown, Shepparton and Ballarat. 

These include increasing road freight weight limits in Victoria by 15 tonnes, reducing fodder processing times in Western Australia for Victorian importing from 10 days to two, and fast-tracking kangaroo control permits to reduce grazing competition.

As part of the state government’s drought support efforts, the National Centre for Farmer Health also recently announced its Look Over the Farm Gate grants program - offering up to $5,000 for eligible community organisations to help support struggling farming families.

But Makin said these “quick wins” only scratched the surface of what’s needed to sustain drought-hit communities.

“Rural Councils are asking for fully-funded rate subsidies for primary producers, zero-interest loans, direct council funding to boost local infrastructure, household hardship allowances, and greater mental health support,” she said. 

She also called for increased support for water and fodder freight, expansion of Rural Financial Counselling Services, and stronger investment in community wellbeing programs.

“We know our farmers are the lifeline of Victoria, they're the lifeline of Corangamite Shire, and we need to support them as much as we can,” Makin said.

Vogels warned that with another poor season looming, local farmers were running out of time, money and morale. “Good farmers are not hard to find – I’m surrounded by them in my ward. But I guarantee you, they’re impossible to replace.”

What’s causing the dry conditions?

A report by Environment Victoria notes that Victoria’s cool season rainfall has already decreased by about 13 percent, which is part of a broader pattern of decreasing rainfall in southern Australia. 

These systems push rain-bearing cold fronts further south, away from Victoria, resulting in fewer rain events during the cool season.

The report explains that the increase of persistent high-pressure systems over southern Australia is one of the “primary reasons” for reduced rainfall since February last year, caused in part as a consequence of mining and burning coal, oil and gas. 

These fossil fuels, when burnt, pump out carbon dioxide and methane that becomes trapped in the atmosphere and increases global temperatures.