Agriculture is a different type of industry to urban industry and has to be treated as such. Hand outs and grants are welcome but are not a mature approach. A Rural Development Bank is the answer.Both my father and I have put legislation into parliament to provide a lending facility that can assist where the mainstream banks, through their own rules, cannot.

The government does not have access to cheap diesel, cheap hay or cheap living expenses but they do have access to cheap money and the cost of lending is one of the most significant costs facing primary producers.

Less money being paid to the banks means more money back through the businesses in town. The beauty of this solution is that banks make money, so in the long term this solution costs the taxpayer nothing.

Unfortunately, both major parties refuse to have government impacting on the bank’s business and have voted against both our bills. This is one of the most significant ways to address the impact of drought in the long term.

It can also evolve to be an enabler for all the gaps in banking in small remote areas where the major banks have made loans virtually impossible under ‘post code discrimination’ despite the quality of the loans.

Mount Isa City Council have recently finalised their position on how they will now charge for water and I acknowledge there is potential for this to impact on use.

I am still to have a briefing with the council on this matter to properly consider the impacts.

I do however encourage residents that it is vitally important to maintain their yards in town to the best of their ability.

It is timely however, to address the way that government derives revenue from Mount Isa City Council (therefore ratepayers) from Mount Isa Water.

The Labor Government has an addiction for using public assets as cash cows. We see it every day with excessive regulated charges for electricity, rail and water, which means we are forced to pay more than is necessary for many basic services.

The cost impact of the state government’s sneaky pricing strategy imposed on the Water Board certainly makes life difficult for whoever is in the council.