New Agriculture Minister says Labor's drought policy an 'evolution'

The next drought could be upon us quickly but will the new government be prepared? (Supplied: Joel B. Pratley, National Portrait Gallery)

Given the flooding rain in recent months, it might be hard to imagine that sooner or later Australia will be in the grips of another crippling drought.

But only two years ago, paddocks were parched, dams, bores and tanks were dry, and towns were trucking in drinking water. 

Gardens had withered and died, and you could forget about taking a long hot shower.

But that seems somewhat out of sight, out of mind for the new Labor government, which went to the federal election without a drought policy.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has told the ABC's Landline program it's something he plans to address.

Murray Watt is planning to talk with his department about Labor's plan for a drought policy. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)

"To be brutally frank, it's something I want to talk about a little bit more with our department," Senator Watt said.

That will be encouraging for farmers hoping the new government doesn't wait until the next drought to start coming up with a decent plan.

Senator Watt said Labor's drought policy was "something that's an evolution".

"It hasn't been as much of a priority for either the former government or the new government given the amount of rain they've had around the country at the moment."

It's widely agreed that the worst time to talk drought policy is during a drought. (ABC News: Franklin Hood)

It's widely agreed that the worst time to try and develop a clear-eyed drought policy is during the natural disaster.

And drought policy is tricky business. Successive attempts by governments have been tried, reviewed and found wanting.

The Coalition's iteration was a $5 billion Future Drought Fund which provides $100 million each year for preparedness and so-called resilience programs.

But Senator Watt pointed out he was unhappy with how it worked under the former government.

Just two years ago, dams were bone dry and paddocks were bare. (ABC News: Lucy Barbour)

"We were concerned that the future drought fund, at one point at least, was being used by the former government as one of their big shiny announcements that wasn't really delivering as much to farmers as was being promised," he said.

"So I've already had contact with some of the board of governors of the fund and it's something I'm looking forward to talking with them more about."

The minister will need to move quickly to get ahead of a major problem that creeps up quickly.