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New bushfire support package adds $650m
Elizabeth Gracie
The Morrison Government has announced a further $650m support package on top of the $2bn pledged earlier this year to further support bushfire affected communities in rural areas and stimulate local economies.
The Regional Bushfire Recovery and Development Program will head the effort to support the delivery of this financial boost, with priority given to regions hit the hardest by the bushfires.
From the $650m, $15m will go towards assisting the forestry industry transport burned logs to timber mills and storage sites, $13m will go towards community wellbeing and participation through the Primary Health Networks, $27m will go towards strengthening telecommunications emergency resilience and $149m will help native species and landscapes recover from the immediate devastation of the bushfires.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that “this funding injection comes as the damage from the bushfires has made itself clear in the weeks and months after they passed and regions have been finalising the sorts of projects they want to get underway to build back better”.
The funding will also provide opportunities for an estimated 18,600 families and locally owned businesses in affected areas to get back on their feet quicker with help from the National Bushfire Recovery Agency (NBRA).
Critics of the bushfire recovery response have noted that from the original $2bn allocated, Senate Estimates revealed that only $205m was paid out as of March 2.
The Morrison Government said that the funding will assist in a strong economic recovery for all bushfire affected businesses, regardless of where they are in the recovery process.
“The projects that these funds will support are not one-size-fits-all — they will reflect community needs” said Morrison.
This will include projects and initiatives across building community capacity and wellbeing through a range of agricultural events and educational seminars said Minister for Agriculture, Drought, and Emergency Management David Littleproud.
Littleproud hopes that the recovery will be a locally-led recovery as opposed to a Canberra-led one.
“We are working side by side with families, small business, primary producers and the tourism sector to deliver a well thought out economic recovery as quickly as possible” Littleproud said.
“While we recognise not all communities are at the same point of recovery, some communities are starting to consider long term planning. We are here to support them with opportunities to rebuild”.
Rural communities should know that their government is there to support them through the long recovery process with this added funding said Littleproud.
“These bushfires affected Australia in many ways and we will be dealing with the aftermath for a long time to come, but communities should know that our government will be with them every step of the way”.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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