In a dusty central-western NSW paddock, the prime minister was on hand to offer drought-stricken farmers a comforting ear, not a rain dance.
Malcolm Turnbull and his senior National Party colleagues are touring regional NSW and Queensland towns this week to visit communities struggling with drought.
Almost 60 per cent of Queensland is drought declared and 61 per cent of NSW is considered on drought watch.
"In this wide brown land of droughts and flooding rains, we have to be resilient," Mr Turnbull told reporters at Trangie, NSW.
"This is about listening and learning."
He'll report back to federal cabinet on what more could be done to ease pressure on farmers and their communities.
"We can't make it rain as politicians, but we certainly can listen," Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said it was important to provide assistance beyond the farm gate to small businesses in regional communities also feeling the pinch.
"There wasn't anything in the cupboard for drought relief before the coalition came so we put a billion dollars on the table and we're out here to see how we can do it better and what needs to change," he said.
Mr Littleproud promised a "calm and decisive" approach to dealing with the drought that took in local considerations.
Parts of Mr Littleproud's Queensland electorate of Maranoa have been in drought for seven years.
The minister said he was concerned that many people who are eligible for assistance have not yet applied.
Asked whether more funding would be made available he said: "We have to live within our means, but we have to help farmers build resilience."
Mr Turnbull will visit Dubbo, Trangie, Narromine, Blackall, Charleville and Boulia on the three-day tour - some of the areas hardest hit by a once-in-20-year drought.
He acknowledged the toll natural disasters take on farmers' mental health and talked up the record funding for counselling services.
Mr Turnbull was also aware of the difficulties de-stocking and then re-stocking livestock amid price fluctuations.
Labor's agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon was dismissive of the drought tour saying it was "all about the 6 o'clock news".
He pointed out no support is in place for farming families about to exhaust their three-year-long entitlement to the farm household allowance.
Mr Fitzgibbon said the government's $1 billion figure included the capital value of concessional loans, regardless of whether they are taken up.
"More debt is rarely the answer for drought-affected farmers," he said.
