The Australian Greens say it is time to stop handing out cheques to farmers and pretending all will be fine once the drought is over.
Instead government assistance should take note of the risks caused by a changing climate, and determine "what they grow, where they grow and how they grow it", Greens leader Christine Milne says.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is expected to tour drought-hit areas of Queensland and NSW this weekend, ahead of a cabinet consideration of a drought assistance package sought by struggling farmers.
But in comments sure to anger the farm lobby, Senator Milne lashed out at short-term assistance measures - "Just handing out money and saying to farmers 'It'll be all right'".
"If the prime minister was genuine about helping Australians on the land he would be running the climate maps over our agricultural areas and providing financial assistance to help farmers transition to the kinds of farming activities that are able to be sustained in the longer term," she told reporters in Canberra.
The best way to help farmers and rural communities is to be truthful and upfront, she said.
"Pretending to farmers that the current drought is just one off and it will all go back to how it used to be, and that they just need a stop-gap measure, is cruel," she said.
