Only a handful of farmers have been given a $150,000 Federal grant to walk away from their debt-ridden farms, leaving millions of dollars unspent.
Doubling the grant amid a blaze of publicity shortly before last year's election, the then Prime Minister, John Howard, said it would allow farmers to leave their farms with dignity.
"These people are in a desperate situation and they're the heart and soul of our rural communities, and we've got to help them," Mr Howard said.
The grants were designed to encourage people farming unviable properties to leave the land and find a new future.
Peter McGauran, who was then the Agriculture Minister, predicted more than 1000 farmers would take the cash.
But despite the hype from the former government, only 32 of 411 applicants have received a grant.
On average they were paid $138,927. Twenty-four received the full grant.
The small number of payouts means that at June 27, only $4.4 million had been paid.
When the grant was doubled the former government said the budget was $150 million.
Farmers are finding it is not easy to get the money.
Nearly half the applications (186) have been rejected.
A further 100 have been assessed before the sale of the farms, and payment will depend on farm sale price and the farmer's resulting net assets.
Centrelink is processing a further 93 applications.
A farmer can receive the full grant, which is taxable, only if the total value of his or her property and assets, minus debt, is less than $350,000.
The grant reduces for assets above $350,000, and a lower grant is paid for assets of up to $575,000.
The exit grant was part of a $714 million drought assistance package.
The figures on grant spending, obtained from the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, come with the spotlight already on the Rudd Government's views on drought assistance.
On Saturday the Australian of the Year, Lee Kernaghan, said in a speech that if drought relief was wound back, "it would break the back of the bush".
Last week, after a joint CSIRO/Bureau of Meteorology report predicted that within two to three decades, drought would occur twice as often and be twice as severe, the Federal Agriculture Minister, Tony Burke, said Government policy had to catch up with the impact of climatic conditions on farmers.
"If we failed to review drought policy, if we were to continue the neglect and pretend that the climate wasn't changing, we would be leaving our farmers out to dry," Mr Burke said.
"What used to be regarded as a one in 20- to 25-year event in order to qualify for drought assistance is now going to hit far more often than it has before."
The Rudd Government's review of drought policy includes the CSIRO/Bureau of Meteorology report, an examination of the social impact of drought and an economic review by the Productivity Commission.
The exit grant statistics reveal most of the applications (302 of 411) have come from Victoria and NSW/ACT (127). Western Australia has had 14 applications and one recipient. No Tasmanian or Northern Territory farmer has applied.
The vice-president of the National Farmers' Federation, Charles Burke, said the number of applications showed parts of Australia were still under extreme pressure from drought.
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