2019 Miss Forbes Showgirl Molly Fuge.
Agricultural show and field day organisers that cancelled their events in 2020 because of COVID 19 now have another opportunity to recover eligible expenses and receive a much-needed cash boost as events kick off for the 2021 year.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said that eligible shows and field days approved under the Supporting Agricultural Shows and Field Days Program are now being invited to submit supplementary expense claims.
“Almost $34 million in cash has been rolled out to the 378 shows and field days approved for funding for costs paid from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020,” David said.
“Our shows and field days have been diligently preparing to come back bigger and better in 2021 and have continued to rack up legitimate expenses.
“Now they will be able to claim additional eligible expenditure not included in their initial application, provided they haven’t exceeded the funding cap for their show size.”
Agricultural shows and field days are at the heart of rural and regional communities and David wants to encourage all Australians to get out and support them this year, “I will be getting out to my local shows in Queensland over the coming months and am certainly looking forward to seeing first-hand our communities and volunteers in action.
“The Australian Government is committed to ensuring organisers of these events are in the best position possible to continue in 2021 and beyond,” he said.
Supplementary expense claims under the Supporting Agricultural Shows and Field Days Program will be treated similarly to original applications in relation to assessment and decision making.
Eligible shows and field day organisers will be contacted directly with an invitation to make a supplementary claim for the period 1 July 2019 to 31 December 2020.
They will be assessed, and results are expected to be notified before 31 March 2021.