Fitzgibbon: don’t be fooled by headline budget numbers

He said the White Paper also inflated its $4b headline figure with concessional loans for drought support despite having “the lowest interest rates in living memory”.

“Farmers and State governments are being offered more debt but more debt is the last thing farmers need and State government simply can’t afford,” he said in response to the budget announcement yesterday.

“Yet the government continues to claim the headline value of these concessional loans as an investment in Australian agriculture which is just another cruel hoax on regional communities.”

Mr Fitzgibbon said he was surprised the budget failed to extend funding for the mobile blackspots program with more money needed.

He said inland rail was on the “never-never” and despite a budget allocation of about $600 million, it was clear the Coalition government was looking for private sector investment “but what that looks like nobody knows”.

But the big omission that’s upset farmers and horticulture sector he said was the Treasurer’s failure to back-down on the backpacker tax.

“The Coalition can feign future consultation all their like but they’ve booked the revenue in the budget ($540m) for the next three years and backpackers have already stopped coming,” he said.

“The Treasurer said the budget is not the end of it but they’ve booked the revenue for three years.

“They’re either taking the revenue or they’re not and all this talk about further consultation is just about pushing the issue beyond the election.

“It’s just a slight of hand and they’re booking the revenue for three years but leading people to believe they want to keep talking about a solution.

“But you can’t have it both ways.”

Australian Greens agriculture spokesperson Rachel Siewert said this year’s federal budget had been lukewarm on agriculture.

The WA Senator said the Coalition government was giving with one hand and taking with another on Landcare funding which was “just smoke and mirrors”.

“So called new funding for marine programs, the reef 2050 plan, and the 20 million trees program are coming from the existing national Landcare program which means cuts elsewhere in the program,” she said.

“The way they have handled this funding is a letdown.”

Senator Siewert said she was also really worried the $2b National Infrastructure Water Loan Facility would encourage unsustainable water practices that resulted in environmental impact.

“We cannot afford to have inefficient, environmentally damaging dams,” she said.

NSW Liberal Democratic Party Senator David Leyonhjelm said he supported new investment in dams and pipelines but would closely scrutinise the details of the $2b loan facility which proposes to provide concessional loans to State and Territory Governments.

“There is a poor history of governments acting like banks and grants are a simpler and more transparent way to provide support than loans,” he said.

Senator Leyonhjelm said in the budget, the government had also proposed to increase various agricultural levies, including the conversion of the export fodder levy from voluntary to mandatory.

He said the government had stated that some of the changes were at the request of industry associations that was “different from changes being requested by individual growers”.

Senator Leyonhjelm has defended the rights of growers to have a say in the setting of levies and said he would closely scrutinise the new budget decisions.

He said the government had also proposed to increase tax on wine by reducing wine equalisation tax rebates but would “strenuously oppose this tax hike”.

“As a silver lining, the government plans to increase funding to promote wine tourism,” he said.

“The means testing of the Managing Farm Risk Program, limiting eligibility to farm businesses with annual revenue of less than $2 million, is welcome. 

“Also welcome is $15m spending on carp control in the Murray-Darling Basin.”