Hosts Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner will broadcast live from Loomberah Hall on Monday.

“It’s pretty heartbreaking stuff to see first hand, to see families faced with the gloom professionally but also personally it’s pretty hard to confront,” Stefanovic said.

“There are parts of rural media that have been banging on about this for way too long and I think we all play a role in that – we should have been onto it a lot earlier in the cities.”

And, he’s no stranger to drought, growing up on the outskirts of Brisbane, Stefanovic used to muster in far north Queensland on horseback. His first job was with WIN TV in Rockhampton in the middle of a drought.

Read also:

The Tamworth broadcast will hopefully force the government’s hand to do more for drought-affected families, Stefanovic said.

“Government’s are notoriously slow to act and sometimes it takes the community putting their hands up and using their voices to create attention," he said.

“You have to be prepared to see people struggling and I think that’s what shocked me the most the first time I saw it as a cadet reporter.

“To see people’s eyes, to see their struggle, their isolation and to put you arms around them and be prepared for emotion is the most difficult part.

“But in a way you’re providing awareness for them and their plight, hopefully people don’t feel like they're alone in this one.”

The Today Show will broadcast live from Loomberah Hall on Monday at 5:30am.