WAFarmers CEO Trevor Whittington is calling for long-term drought preparedness to be front of mind across the state
Whether this season ends up in the grain record books or just fades as another patchy year, one thing is guaranteed: somewhere in the Wheatbelt, rainfall will slump into the bottom 10 per cent of the long-term average.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s own numbers show Decile One years strike the Eastern Wheatbelt more often than many realise.
Yilgarn is the poster child–bottom-decile rainfall in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2019, and again in 2023.
But as the long history of drought in this state shows, Decile One years aren’t rare – they’re just part of farming.
Since Federation, drought policy has swung between open-handed crisis response and hard-nosed economic realism.
In the post-WWII decades, drought meant freight subsidies, fodder runs, and dam building–nation-building stuff. If the sheep were hungry, the government acted.
But by the 1990s, Canberra and the states embraced a new creed: adapt or perish.
There were no more subsidies for the unprepared and drought became just another farm business risk to be managed like machinery upgrades or school fees.
WA led the charge and by 2002 had quietly abandoned drought declarations and replaced them with ‘Water Deficiency Declarations’ – a bureaucratic tool aimed solely at livestock welfare. No cheques, just water guaranteed by Watercorp at the nearest standpipe.
The language changed too. ‘Drought’ was dropped from official vocabularies and replaced with euphemisms like ‘deficiency,’ ‘decile events,’ and ‘climate resilience.’
But out in the paddock, when the rain stops, it’s still drought and everyone still looks to government and asks: what now?
Despite decades of national drought frameworks, the response remains a patchwork both across states, and within Western Australia.
During the Millennium Drought, the eastern states poured over a billion dollars into fodder subsidies, water carting, and freight.
Canberra handed out Exceptional Circumstances Relief while reminding farmers to plan for next time.
But fast forward to the 2017–2020 ‘Tinderbox Drought,’ and it was déjà vu as the same states hit the panic button and went back to writing cheques.
Then came the Future Drought Fund – $5 billion to spin off $100 million a year for resilience, not relief.
In theory, a smart idea. In practice? An- other honey pot for consultants to pump out glossy reports.
They’d have been better off using the money to mail every farmer a once off cheque for $20,000 to hire a dozer or sink a bore and never ask again for drought support.
At least when the next Decile One hits, there would be something physical to show for it.
In WA’s case for the last 25 years, state ministers have mostly held the line. No drought handouts – just emergency water carting to standpipes, mental health support, and financial counselling.
WAFarmers has written to WA agriculture minister Jackie Jarvis because we need a clear, statewide drought policy with real industry buy-in.
With the election behind us, it’s time to set the agenda for the next 25 years.
Somewhere in WA, 2025 will be another Decile One year – and those farmers deserve to know what support they’ll get when the dams run dry.
That means revisiting the role of the Drought Hub and asking serious questions about DPIRD’s funding priorities.
We also need to clarify where Grains Research and Development Corporation and Meat and Livestock Australia fit in the drought space – not because they’re not doing useful work, but to avoid duplication and ensure they’re aligned with a state-led strategy.
Mental health and farm financial counselling must stay – early help beats disaster mop-up every time.
As for rewriting drought policy? Don’t hand it off to a Level 6 policy officer with ChatGPT. This needs a heavyweight
– someone with senior government experience, cross-agency reach, and the resources to lead real reform.
Not just a tidy-up job, but a proper look at how to prepare WA’s farmers, communities and economy for the next Decile One season.
And while we’re at it, let’s put the Country Water Supply Scheme under the microscope. What would it take to get farmers off the water carting queue and onto their own groundwater? What incentives would make that shift viable? It’s time to stop reacting and start planning – fund Smart Water Phase 2 now and get Phase 3 underway.
We asked the Minister for a focused drought roundtable and what we got back was a proposal to discuss drought and climate adaptation. Disappointing – but not surprising.
Apparently, a roundtable is a great opportunity to explore our ‘respective roles in drought and climate’ and ‘advance climate adaptation initiatives’.
Let’s be clear: droughts were part of the Australian landscape long before climate modelling and net zero roadmaps. Even if the planet reaches carbon neutrality and someone figures out how to stop the next ice age, we’ll still have droughts. It’s a basic feature of life on this continent.
So we’ve written back to the Minister to make it clear: we won’t join a forum that dresses up emissions targets and carbon farming as drought policy. Let’s stay fo- cused – water, fodder, animal welfare.
If the Minister wants to host a climate change forum we’ll turn up, but drought policy should stay about drought.
The ball’s in her court.