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Scheme to help keep contractors employed through drought

Updated August 07, 2015 07:25:41

They are perhaps the forgotten ones in the drought still affecting western Queensland after more than three years.

Contractor workers around the area are now struggling to find work.

The drought has forced properties throughout the west to destock and graziers to save every dollar, which in many cases meant putting off staff or holding back from employing contractors to help with jobs.

It is a situation too familiar to contractor David Brownlie.

"For 20 years I was managing a property an hour outside of Longreach and the last couple of years I have been on a property closer to Longreach," he said.

"But I became a drought statistic back in January.

"Since the beginning of January I have had 30 days contract mustering, plus a couple of weeks caretaking on two different properties, so it is a fair way apart for some of these jobs.

"There are so many places around the district that are totally destocked or virtually destocked and so this sort of work [contract mustering] is running out."

It is also an experience David's son Matt Brownlie can relate to.

"My wife and I were full-time on a property for about two years and then we finished up there at the end of last year," he said.

Since the beginning of January I have had 30 days contract mustering, plus a couple of weeks caretaking.....so it is a fair way apart for some of these jobs.

David Brownlie, contractor

"After that we had a bit of time off and we were quite optimistic about coming home. We thought there would have been good rain and jobs everywhere.

"But that was not the case and so we ended up taking up a contracting role.

"Work was quite good for the first while but just gradually it has eased off and it has nearly come to a halt now.

"We were doing anything from little bits of fencing jobs to cattle work, sheep work, shearing, any mustering, but a lot of it was really destocking.

"Every job we did we would see another truckload of cattle go and we knew that was less work for everyone in the future."

The list of contractors who have struggled to find work in this drought goes on.

Craig Neuendorf is currently employed as the groundsman at the high school, after he struggled to find work as a contractor.

"From when I commenced contracting in October 2013 until about March this year [2015], I had work lined up, so I was pretty right," he said.

"But come March, work was starting to reduce a fair bit and I had some weeks there with no work and I would have another week with two or maybe three days of work.

"That forced me into a situation where I had to go and look for other work to gain full time employment and I was very fortunate I was able to gain a full time job."

This lack of work and the repercussions for the local community prompted the Baptist Church in Longreach to create a scheme which will not only help contractors find work, but also ease the financial burden on graziers.

We really wanted to support the contractors because the industry needs them to be there when it rains and when we kick back into gear again.

Peter Whip, grazier

After being sent funds to help people struggling with drought, the Church came up with the idea to help the "forgotten people", the contractors.

It subsidises graziers to employ contractors.

Peter Whip, a grazier and agribusiness consultant in the area, worked with the Baptist Church to help put this scheme together.

"The issue a lot of people have seen is the drought affects everyone, it affects the whole community," he said.

"But one of the areas we felt was a little left out, a little forgotten was the contractors.

"If you are running a contract business in western Queensland, you really rely on contractors.

"They are an integral part of businesses in the west.

"We really wanted to support those guys because the industry needs them to be there when it rains and when we kick back into gear again."

Mr Whip said the scheme would also help people on the land by reducing their costs.

"What we are trying to do is support contractors just to maintain their workflow for as long as we can," he said.

The scheme offers to pay 40 per cent of the cost of a contractor and the grazier is required to pay the remaining 60 per cent.

"Hopefully it will be an incentive for graziers to keep employing contractors when they might have otherwise pulled the pin on it," he said.

The scheme is being rolled out alongside the Western Queensland Drought Appeal.

Topics: drought, agricultural-prices, agricultural-subsidies, agribusiness, beef-cattle, sheep-production, longreach-4730

First posted August 07, 2015 07:14:43

Original author: Lydia Burton

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