Federal Agriculture and Water Resources Minister David Littleproud, whose own electorate of Maranoa has been in drought for eight years, said the farming communities were grateful for Tasmanian support.

“That’s the beautiful thing about this country – when the chips are down, we’re in there together. Whether you’re in Queensland, Western Australia or Tasmania, if someone is down, we’re all shoulder to shoulder with you,” Mr Littleproud said.

Even if the support is not monetary, like vouchers, or physical, like hay bales, the emotional support is just as, if not more, important, he said.

“It’s the emotional support in knowing someone else cares. For them to know that someone in Tasmania cares enough to send them a package or send a bale of hay, that means a lot.”

“That means more than anything else at the moment; it’s about knowing their fellow Australians are thinking of them,” Mr Littleproud said.

However, there are ways to support not only farmers struggling with drought, but their whole communities.

Mr Littleproud said sending products to towns in drought hurt the small businesses operating there, as farmers were not spending money in their region.

“If Tasmanians want to support farmers in Queensland and NSW, where the drought is really biting, it’s [best] not to send hampers from Tasmania, but to buy vouchers from the local butcher in Longreach or Barcaldine because it’s not just  the farmers who hurt; it’s also the small businesses in those towns,” he said.

“We really appreciate the sentiment, but it kills those small family businesses – like the local IGA, the butcher, the local servo – in those towns.

“These little towns, some of them are only 2000 people, and if you start to strip away at those small businesses then you start to tear away at the fabric of the town.”

Another way to support these communities is to make donations to relevant Rotary clubs and Country Women’s Association branches because they “do such a good job in connecting everything at a local level”.

Financial and food support are one of the first things we think of when it comes to drought, but mental health support comes into play too.

Mr Littleproud said everybody should feel comfortable asking for help.

“Whether they’re in drought-stricken Australia or here in Tasmania, no one should ever feel there is stigma in asking for help for a mental illness.”

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