Media release no.
From the Minister Release of Commonwealth report vindicates Minister's stance 30 May 2001 Western Australian Agriculture Minister Kim Chance has tabled a Commonwealth report in State Parliament that vindicates his stance in support of farmers seeking Exceptional Circumstances funding. Mr Chance told the Legislative Council yesterday that since the attempt to help farmers had been rejected, members of the State Opposition had accused the Government of making an ambit claim that was doomed to fail. But he said the conclusions of the report, tabled yesterday, did not give any substance to that suggestion. Nowhere in the NRAC report, which incidentally took the Commonwealth two months to consider, does it say that WA's second extended application was an ambit claim, as espoused by Opposition MPs and Federal Agriculture Minister Warren Truss. Mr Chance said he remained convinced that the extended application should have succeeded and its failure again demonstrated the need for the guidelines to be urgently overhauled.