DELAY IN HAY PAY-DAY
Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur used a constituency question to ask the Minister for Agriculture about the treatment of bushfire volunteers under the fuel subsidy scheme who have been willingly delivering hay into fire affected communities.
Victoria’s subsidy for the scheme has ended, in contrast with the approach of the New South Wales government.
Volunteers have been told that funding is limited and is allocated on a first-in, first-out basis until funds are exhausted.
Some claims have not been paid more than two months after submission, and volunteer groups like the Timboon Lions Club and the Heyfield Lions Club are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Mrs McArthur said “We should be thanking these volunteers, not penalising them.”
“In some cases, volunteers have been put off making further deliveries of hay by the delay in the reimbursement.”
Mrs McArthur asked the Minister, “when will all moneys due under the transport fodder scheme be paid out to those owed?”
18 March 2020