14 July 2015
The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) have drawn some positives out of the Palaszczuk Government’s first Budget, welcoming investment to combat immediate biosecurity threats, vocational and skills training and funding for the implementation of the Government’s Food and Fibre plan.
QFF CEO, Clare Murray, said the ‘no frills’ Budget is largely as expected for the State’s $14.5 billion agriculture sector.
The Government has appropriated $10 million to combat the immediate challenge of Panama Tropical Race 4, representing a positive boost to biosecurity efforts.
“Protecting Queensland’s global market advantage as a clean, green and bio-secure producer of food and fibre needs to be a key priority of the State Government,” Ms Murray said.
“The Labor Government’s ongoing review into our biosecurity capabilities must be the catalyst for even more government investment, particularly in plant biosecurity.”
Attracting and retaining an adequately skilled and trained workforce is one of the biggest obstacles to future growth for Queensland’s agriculture sector. The Government’s $754.6 million investment in vocational education and training could provide the agricultural sector with assistance to overcome this challenge.
“The Government’s major training investment needs to align to industry skills requirements if training is actually going to result in greater employment,” Ms Murray said.
“The formation of a Rural Jobs and Skills Alliance could be a model for the Government to pursue to clearly identify workforce supply gaps and the best-value-for-money opportunities for this massive investment.”
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries budget has fallen short of the 5 per cent increase called for by QFF, which would provide the Department with greater capacity to undertake proactive programs to advance the industry.
Another positive out of the Budget is $48.4 million funding for the continuation of existing drought and natural disaster assistance mechanisms. This appropriation is an important confirmation from the Government of the key role they need to play in these times of crisis.
“With 80% of the State drought declared the Government’s decision to not consider any major changes to drought assistance will be well received by primary producers. Further dedicated investment in resilience planning and preparedness will also be needed for areas of Queensland transitioning out of drought,” Ms Murray said
Labor has provided an additional $8.1 million over three years to implement their Food and Fibre Plan, a pre-election agricultural blueprint containing a range of commitments, the most notable being funding for feral pest management.
QFF has pointed to further opportunity for the Government to affect positive change for Queensland’s farming sector, highlighting initiatives aimed at lowering electricity and water costs as the most effective means of supporting growth for the agricultural sector.
“QFF will continue to push for concrete action to be taken to reduce the impact of the solar feed-in-tariff on electricity prices,” Ms Murray said.
“Funding to support the investigation and implementation of local management for Queensland’s eight irrigation distribution schemes is also a key priority of QFF.”
“It is hoped that funding for the establishment of a Queensland Productivity Commission will provide greater scrutiny of electricity prices and water tariffs, and result in better outcomes for consumers.”
“On balance the State’s farming sector will be unmoved with the flavour of this Budget – described by the Treasurer as ‘vanilla’.”
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