NSW Farmers has warned budget repair efforts should not come at the expense of critical productivity and biosecurity measures.
On Tuesday Treasurer Daniel Mookhey revealed the state’s finances were in trouble, calling out major Sydney projects needing extra money and hinting at potential budget cuts.
But NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle said there was a concern that regional and rural spending could be on the chopping block to balance the books, and urged the government not to reduce road repair or biosecurity responses, which were critical both to the economy and productivity.
“There’s always the fear that regional and rural spending gets cut when times are tough, but we’re saying agriculture is too important to face the chop,” Mr Arkle said.
“Farmers are used to operating on pretty tight margins at the best of times, but we’re feeling the same pressure of interest rate rises and soaring costs for fuel, electricity and fertiliser.
“As an industry that produces food for families, we can’t afford to go backwards, so we really need to be prioritised to make sure domestic food production can continue.”
Spending on biosecurity activity and pest control would be essential over the next six months, Mr Arkle said, with more and more farmers questioning whether public land managers were being good neighbours. He also singled out the $334 million Regional Roads Fund and the $390 million Regional Emergency Road Repair Fund as vital programs that should not be scrapped, and said there was a wealth of evidence that investing in agricultural research and development delivered big dividends.
“I agree we need to be smarter about how we spend money, but let’s not forget that roads are in dire need of repair right across the state, and there’s no point growing food if you can’t get it from farm gate to dinner plate,” Mr Arkle said.
“We also know the enormous drag biosecurity breaches have on farm productivity and the state economy, so we cannot pull back from protecting this vital sector and the work of these government agencies.
“Regardless of the budget position, there are important things government needs to spend money on, and we want to see strong leadership to support farmers and country communities.”
