‘Enough is enough’: Grain growers reject Albanese Government’s ‘disgraceful’ biosecurity levy

Nearly 99 per cent of grain growers “vehemently reject” a new biosecurity levy flagged by the Albanese Government in last month’s Federal Budget, a nationwide survey has revealed. The survey by Grain Producers Australia aimed to gauge grower sentiment after the levy was unveiled as part of a biosecurity funding overhaul designed to secure a “sustainable” income stream for the Government. From July 2024, all producers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries will be slugged an extra 10 per cent on top of what they were already paying in agricultural levies as of 2020-21. But grain growers will be hit hardest, paying on average an extra $1400 a year according to calculations by GPA. “Growers clearly feel they’re already paying enough in levies and want other options and existing levy mechanisms explored first, before another new levy is placed on them,” GPA chief executive Colin Bettles said. “Growers also find it insulting that they’re being asked to pay more in levies when the risk creators are not paying their fair share, and the importers of these biosecurity risks also don’t carry the burden of an actual biosecurity incursion, and the significant business costs that go with it.” Many of the approximately 140 respondents described the levy as a “cash grab”. “Stop flogging the farmers who take all the risks and already pay levies,” one grower wrote. “Fuel, chemical and fertiliser costs have risen sharply since COVID. No more expenses can be tolerated.” Others variously labelled the levy “a disgrace”, “so wrong”, and “very concerning”, while another said farmers were “sick and tired of having to pick up the bill for everything” and “enough is enough”. Some 137 respondents (98.6 per cent) said growers should not have to pay added costs while importers were not subject to any such levy. Eighty-four per cent said they did not agree with paying the new levy, while only four per cent agreed and 13 per cent wanted more details. Ninety-four per cent said growers already contributed enough in existing levies, which GPA estimates equates to 1.02 per cent of net grain sales. GPA chairman Barry Large, who farms at Miling in WA’s Wheatbelt, called on Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt to collaborate with GPA to “find more workable solutions for the grains sector”. “With this additional 10 per cent payment, the total levies collected from Australian grain producers, based on last year’s $28 billion crop, will be $314.16 million,” Mr Large said. “This added $28.56 million in levies from grains also represents more than 60 per cent of the $47.5 million that’s set to be raised by the new 10 per cent levy across all producers.” A proposed levy on imported shipping containers was floated in the lead-up to the Budget before being shelved, with Senator Watt saying the Government needed more time to “closely examine the trade law implications”. Mr Large said it was disappointing given importers had been responsible for introducing biosecurity threats such as khapra beetle, which has the potential to cause a $15.5 billion hit to the national economy. “Without details and a clear value proposition to spend funds raised by this (biosecurity) levy, we don’t know if it’ll actually provide better protections to safeguard against huge risks such as khapra beetle,” he said. Producers will supply about 6 per cent of total biosecurity funding each year under the new model, with importers paying 48 per cent and taxpayers 40 per cent. Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has described the contribution as “a pretty modest ask of farmers”, who are “big beneficiaries of our biosecurity system”.