With the Senate failing to progress the bill for an Australian Reconstruction and Development Board, Mr Katter sought some buy-in from Mr Byrne during question time on Wednesday, but found a  lack of support.

“About 113 drought concessional loans have been allocated in Queensland, despite 80 per cent of the rural areas of the state having the worst conditions ever recorded in Queensland,’’ Mr Katter said.

“This reflects abject policy failure, as endorsed by the cattle producers I interact with.

“This is not just to help the cattle producers, but to help cash flow come back into the towns as well.

“On this basis will the minister move immediately towards providing a reconstruction board or like mechanism, given the recent failing of the federal government to deliver the ARDB?”

Mr Byrne replied there was no intention of the Queensland government to move in that direction, indicating it was a federal issue, and went on to talk about last weekend’s drought meeting in Longreach attended by 300 people.

“I am disappointed at the minister’s lack of interest in the burgeoning rural debt of Queensland graziers,” Mr Katter said.

“There is a crisis out there. We jump when there is a cyclone or a flood.

“This is something that has been strangling the people in my electorate for three years now.”

Mr Katter said even if there was rain at the end of the year, people had no money to buy cattle.

“If we are not going to throw any money in exceptional circumstances funding because we do not call it a natural disaster – even though it is – we should at least provide a solution by way of a cost-effective reconstruction board as governments have done in the past,’’ he said.

“It is critical we have some solution to the increasing rural debt problem, and if we can’t rely on the federal government to supply the solution, let’s at least look at what we can do on a statewide basis,” Mr Katter said.

“The alternative is seeing more and more family farm units sold off to international investors and foreign owners.’’