The federal Budget was the proverbial curate’s egg for Tasmanian farmers: some good aspects, some bad, some bewildering and some highly questionable, Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association chief executive Jan Davis said today.
“Freight equalisation is intact, farmers get to keep the rebate on the diesel fuel that they use in their on-farm vehicles and there is to be a boon to infrastructure spending that we hope includes regional areas of Tasmania – and not just widening the Midland Highway,” Ms Davis said.
“We seem to lose with one hand and gain with the other, with respect to rural research and development.
“While we welcome a further $100 million investment in research and development over the forward estimates, there is little detail on how this will be spent – and Tasmanian farmers will need to work hard to ensure we get our share of that funding.
“On the other hand, cuts to the cooperative research centre program, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and the CSIRO will impact on Tasmania,” she said.
Ms Davis said the TFGA was disappointed by the announcement of savage cuts to environmental programs, including Landcare.
“Landcare has a long history in Tasmania of leveraging private investment, involving farmers in on-ground local activities for public benefit. Re-direction of funding to programs with a predominantly mainland focus could again risk Tasmanian activities delivering environmental outcomes.
“Records clearly show that government investment in on-ground, farmer-based natural resource management programs and research and development activities, have huge multiplier effects in terms of attracting dollars and farmer participation. These positive outcomes should not be put at risk for the sake of short-term savings.”
Ms Davis said removal of excise subsidies for ethanol fuels would directly impact on the private forestry sector. Forest growers had hoped that this would be an attractive alternative market to woodchips, but this now looked less likely.
“Interestingly, removal of the Tasmanian Wheat Freight Scheme is said to save $4 million a year even though no claims have been made since 2009,” she said.
“There is little in the budget to address the real issues Tasmanian farmers face: freight costs, the cost of regulation and the disappearing vision of level playing fields in our markets.”
“Having said that, though, the Budget could have been a lot worse for agriculture.
“We look forward to working with the federal government to ensure that the overall budget settings deliver an environment that enables Tasmania to get on with the job of building a sustainable and resilient community,” Ms Davis said.
TFGA chief executive Jan Davis
