Popular rice brand to receive government bail out

The federal government has confirmed it will bail out the popular brand SunRice after 170 jobs were impacted in the NSW Riverina region.

SunRice cut 78 jobs and changed 92 positions across its Deniliquin and Leeton mills earlier in August after warning that it would have to scale down operations due to low crop from drought and water policy settings.

Environment and Water Minister Murray Watt told the ABC the government is discussing a bailout and is waiting on a formal written proposal from SunRice.

“I can confirm that we have advised SunRice that we are prepared to co-invest with them in new investment in a rice processing plant,” he said on Monday.

“SunRice has indicated that investment, as well as their own, would protect their jobs as well as potentially creating more.”

The cost to taxpayers has not been confirmed.

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SunRice has, however, asked the government for $15 million that it has promised to match.

A federal government spokesperson said it is willing to co-invest to protect jobs and is waiting on a formal written proposal from SunRice.

“We have been talking with SunRice for some time and have received a verbal proposal from them for potential new investment in rice processing facilities in the Riverina,” the spokesperson said.

The announcement comes a day after One Nation MP David Farley told the ABC he had constructive engagement with the government and was happy with how the matter is progressing.

“It started out with an engagement with Tony Burke, who facilitated a meeting with Murray Watt again, and then I challenged Tony Burke after question time the other day. He followed it through,” he said.

“I was impressed how Albanese at the Governor General’s event the other night came straight up to me and said, ‘Look, I’m aware of it. I’m working on it. We’ll get it done.’

“Even after, as we left the chamber the other day, we spoke all the way across to the Senate talking about it, how could it be done and put together?

“So, you know, I tilt my hat to them.”

SunRice is one of the world’s largest rice companies and is headquartered in the NSW Riverina town of Leeton.

It is there that farmers who heavily rely on the Murray-Darling Basin have raised concerns about the water restrictions.

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In a statement announcing the job cuts earlier in August, SunRice chief executive Paul Serra said he will continue to advocate to the government about the impacts of water policy settings on the region’s rice industry.

National Farmers’ Federation President Hamish McIntyre earlier this year said the Murray-Darling Basin underpins about $30 billion in annual output, supports nearly 10,000 farms and at least 76,000 jobs.

“We cannot afford to keep making the same mistakes and expecting a different result,” he said.

“That means investing in the practical measures that actually improve river health, like fixing constraints, restoring habitat, improving water quality and eradicating invasive species like carp.”