SYDNEY, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Australian farmers hit by a record drought will receive 12,000 Australian dollars (8,880 U.S. dollars) each as part of the latest relief package for the agricultural sector, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Sunday.
The cash payments help form a drought relief package of 190 million Australian dollars (140.6 million U.S. dollars) for the dry spell that has cut across large parts of the country's east and south including New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
"We are, as we have all said, the land of droughts and flooding rains, but we haven't had a drought this bad for a very, very long time, since the Bureau of Meteorology says 1965," The Australian newspaper quoted Turnbull as saying during a visit to the central western region of New South Wales.
The latest aid will also provide more support for mental health services in the affected areas.
Ninety-nine percent of New South Wales alone is in drought as it faces one of its driest winters, with the state government rolling out a major emergency aid package late last month for its farmers.