AN emotional plea for the Prime Minister to visit some of Australia's longest drought-ravaged areas has been delivered to his office by Opposition agriculture spokesman John Cobb.
Mr Cobb has written to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd calling for "personal intervention" to ensure the "mental, social and economic well-being of regional communities in Australia".
Mr Cobb's letter is based on fears of severe crop losses in Australia's eastern states and dire water allocations in many parts of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Mr Cobb wrote of his concerns for the mental health of his own constituents in Central West NSW.
"It is with a great deal of regret that I write to you to inform you that we are facing another winter crop disaster in much of Central, Southern and Western NSW, with parts of Queensland and Victoria also facing severe crop losses," Mr Cobb's letter says.
"In addition the situation in regards to irrigated agriculture in the Murray Darling Basin following another year of low allocations has reached a point of no return for many farmers.
"Most regional communities in drought affected regions are also facing a bleak year ahead through no fault of their own.
"Only this week another abattoir in northern Victoria was forced to sack staff and reduce its work hours to just one shift, a move the company is blaming on decreasing stock numbers directly due to the drought.
"I am genuinely fearful of the mental health of many of my own constituents who in some cases are facing their seventh year of drought and failed crops.
"The mental anguish of many farming families has been compounded by the fact that at the start of the growing season we had some fairly good rainfalls which did a lot to instil hope and a positive outlook."
Mr Cobb said even Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, was "so sure the drought was over" he withdrew Exceptional Circumstances from many of the regions now facing significant crop losses.
Mr Cobb said without "high level support from the Federal Government", many country regions were facing "a calamity".
"Already in irrigation regions in the Murray Darling Basin your Government’s water buy-back program has been swamped by desperate farmers willing to sell all or part of their water licences not because they are willing sellers but in order to survive," Mr Cobb said.
"The debt burden on many farmers is now reaching a critical level.
"The cost of putting in a crop or buying in temporary water can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, another crop loss has added significantly to many farmers debt burden.
"Increasing property prices have allowed farmers to borrow more as their equity grew.
"We are now reaching a dangerous tipping point which could see farm values plummet dramatically if bank fore-closures force many properties onto the market because of an inability to make interest repayments as a direct result of another failed crop.
"A dramatic drop in the capital value of farms would cause flow on failures all along the line."
Mr Cobb said there was a real and urgent need is for immediate support from the Government, particularly for regions which have been taken out of exceptional circumstances prematurely, following five to seven years of EC drought.
"The situation we are now facing has gone on for so long it cannot be dealt with by drought reforms or drought policy it is about dealing with disaster," Mr Cobb said in the letter.
"The next four weeks will be a critical period for many hard working farmers and their families.
"Whilst crops have already been wiped-out in some regions, if we get another few days of hot, dusty, windy conditions, with very little rain, I am very afraid for the immediate future of entire regional communities.
"This drought has and is destroying too many good country people and without your Government’s leadership, empathy, and financial support I fear that more lives will be lost as despair sets in after what was such as promising start to the season."
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