Interview with Cassandra Hough, ABC SA Country Hour

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC SA COUNTRY HOUR
MONDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: National Drought Forum, RIC loans, drought support

CASSANDRA HOUGH: Now we were hoping to speak with the Agriculture Minister, Julie Collins, but due to an issue with flights she has not been able to make it in time. But, fortunately the Assistant Minister Anthony Chisholm joins me. Good afternoon.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: Good to be with you, Cass.

CASSANDRA HOUGH: So, I know you have to get away, but tell me with this event, it is co-hosted by the government. The main thing we're hearing is loans, low-interest loans, no-interest loans, how they can be best structured, how much is the government looking at this? What is on the table?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: It's obviously really important and doesn't matter where you've been impacted by drought across the country. This is something that's important in terms of the ability of those communities and producers to survive. So, it is something we've obviously announced more money for the Regional Investment Corporation which provides those low interest loans which we think will make a difference and we'll obviously be engaging. That will be a big topic of conversation in the next couple of days about how we can best apply those grants so that they can benefit local producers. There's also the Farm Household Allowance as well, which there's about 1,000 producers across South Australia that have been impacted by drought that are benefiting from the Farm Household Allowance at the moment.

CASSANDRA HOUGH: Is the government going to look at how the interest is calculated on those RIC loans, though?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: That would be something that would obviously be up to Minister Collins. There was a review done into the RIC over the last couple of years. The government response is due to that soon. So, I'd expect when we announce that response that will cover off on details like that. But I do understand it's a topic of concern for people across the industry.

CASSANDRA HOUGH: How will the government ensure that this isn't just a talk fest? That this is actually going to play a role in developing government policy?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: Because we're committed to getting our response right and there's obviously the long term view in how we do that, which is really important. But we know with Australia you're either dealing with drought or you're never far away from dealing with drought. So, we want to ensure that we have those long term views where we're helping communities get ready for a potential drought. But we also want to make sure that we're getting that support right here and now to support those communities that are impacted currently. So, I'm very confident with the people in the room. They have a lot of expertise to offer, but they also want to hold government to account because they want to ensure that governments at the state and federal level are doing what we can to better support producers.

CASSANDRA HOUGH: A lot of the government assistance - Federal Government assistance, has gone into the Rural Financial Counselling Service. How is that being expanded? Because they have had to onboard a lot of people. This has really been the government's avenue for support. Why is it your avenue of choice?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: Because we think it's really important to help people deal with their current circumstances. Everywhere I go around the country, from those people who have been impacted by drought or changing conditions, they do value that support that they can get through the Rural Financial Counselling Service. They do a fantastic job. They're trying to beef up their capabilities at the same time. As you can imagine, there's a lot of demand across that industry. So, we want to make sure that we can attract people to work for the Rural Financial Counselling Service to give them the support that they need so that they can employ people to give the best advice about what is in their interest long term.

CASSANDRA HOUGH: How much pressure is being placed on the government, though, to address these RIC loans? Because it is the key message coming through to us time and time again. The interest rate needs to be dropped.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: We absolutely hear that loud and clear. Minister Collins, I know, hears that and it's something that I'm sure she'll address over the next couple of days in terms of her ability to talk to the conference. And we know that will be a strong topic of feedback from people here today.

CASSANDRA HOUGH: Thank you so much for joining me. I know you have to get to the event, so thanks for stopping by very quickly. I know it was a bit of a rush to get here.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: Thanks, Cassie.