Mr Abbott will tour drought-affected areas this weekend with Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, who is finalising a Cabinet submission regarding more assistance for the hardest-hit rural communities.
While some economists say subsidies have propped up unviable farms for too long, farmers are keen for the Government to act.
I've got a little bit of water left in some ground dams. I would say by the end of February or first week of March, that will all be gone. So I really don't know where I'm going to turn to. So I'm in big trouble.
We have had a prime minister come out here, and believe it or not, it was Kevin Rudd. So, Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey would be most welcome to come and sit down on my veranda and have a chat.
People have got to take responsibility of their businesses and not rely on government bailouts. But there are times when there are exceptional circumstances and we are now in exceptional circumstances out here.
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El Nino still on track but coming later
Cath McAloon
Updated June 18, 2014 10:08:08
The weather bureau says an El Nino, which brings drier conditions to eastern Australia, is likely to develop in spring.
The weather bureau says an El Nino weather system is now expected to develop in spring, rather than winter as they'd previously forecast.
The latest climate modelling shows warming in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which defines El Nino activity, has levelled off in recent weeks.
But the weather bureau's manager of climate prediction services, Andrew Watkins, says there's still a 70 per cent likelihood of an El Nino, bringing drier conditions to eastern Australia, this year.
"About half of the models are suggesting an event in place by late winter, early spring, but then the majority of the models say it will be in place sometime later on during the spring," Dr Watkins said.
"The odds sticking at about 70 per cent for an El Nino developing in 2014 hasn't really changed, it's just that things may occur a little later than normal.
"That doesn't necessarily mean that the impacts will come a lot later than normal, we still have been seeing some relatively dry and warm conditions in eastern Australia.
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