Senator O'Brien asked the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, upon notice, on 30 March 1999:

(1) Did the Member for Eden-Monaro make representations to the Minister or his office in support of applications for drought exceptional circumstances or exceptional circumstances for the areas known as Monaro A, B or C.

(2) Were those representations made by way of letter, fax or directly with the Minister or his office?

(a) When were those representations made?

(b) What action did the Minister or his office take in response to those representations.

(3) If the representations from the Member for Eden—Monaro were made by way of correspondence, was that correspondence forwarded to the Department of Primary industries and Energy, the secretariat of the Rural Adjustment Scheme Advisory Council (RASAC) or directly to RASAC; if so, what advice did those bodies provide to the Minister or his office in response to those representations.

Senator Alston (Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) —The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Yes.

(2) Letter and fax

(a) 20 August 1997

31 October 1997

(b) The Minister replied to both the letter and fax with a single letter dated 5 January 1998.

(3) The letter and fax were referred to the Department of Primary Industries and Energy to prepare a ministerial response to the Member for Eden—Monaro and copies forwarded to RASAC.

Minister Anderson's letter noted the Member's concerns about the RASAC report on the Cooma—Monaro region. However, it stated that RASAC's report was based on information provided to it by the New South Wales Government and the New South Wales Farmers Association and highlighted the State Government's responsibility to demonstrate that an exceptional circumstance event had occurred. In the case of the Cooma—Monaro application, this had not been adequately demonstrated.