Federal Budget 2023: Farmers slugged another bill for nation’s first long-term $1b biosecurity funding scheme

Farmers already paying thousands in levies, fees and charges will be slugged one more to bankroll the nation’s first long-term biosecurity funding scheme, despite calls from industry for importers to pick up the bill instead. The new national $1 billion biosecurity system was unveiled in the Federal Budget on Tuesday, May 9, and described as the first model to consistently protect the industry from threats of disease and pests. Agriculture minister Murray Watt said the “modest” levy — applied to producers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries — would create a “more predictable, equitable, transparent and accountable” system and underpin the industry’s record $75 billion in exports. From July 1 next year, producers will be charged a levy set at an equivalent rate of 10 per cent of the industry-led agricultural levies of 2020-21 with payments set to total $153m over three years. Farmers will supply about 6 per cent of the total funding for biosecurity each year, while importers will pay 48 per cent of the cost of biosecurity services, and taxpayers about 40 per cent – including travelers through the passenger movement charge. The Government says the levy recognises the benefits primary producers derive from the nation’s biosecurity system, which maximises trade opportunities and enhances access to premium overseas markets. “This Budget backs our booming $90 billion agriculture sector through investments that will safeguard its premium status,” Senator Watt said as the Budget was handed down on Tuesday night. The industry has been lobbying for the Budget to deliver a sustainable funding model for biosecurity after years of ad-hoc cash boosts but wanted importers to foot the bill. Ahead of the Budget, National Farmers Federation chief executive Tony Mahar said any move to charge producers more for biosecurity would be “a kick in the guts” with farmers “paying their fair share already”. “They pay hundreds of millions of dollars in terms of a whole range of levies and fees and charges that go towards maintaining a strong biosecurity regime,” he said. The nation’s biosecurity system has been under siege in recent years, with increased numbers of travellers and screenings, a surge in contaminated materials coming into Australia and detections soaring. The new levy builds on an abandoned biosecurity program the former Coalition government failed to establish. In 2018, then-Federal Agriculture minister David Littleproud announced a $10 per shipping container — or $1 per tonne of raw freight — import charge that would raise $325 million over three years. That fee was never introduced, with the recent boost unveiled at a time when the Federal Agriculture Department has been forced to cut spending after financial issues likely to lead to a $60 million cost recovery shortfall. WA Grains Group chair Alastair Falconer, who farms at Coorow, said a long-term funding stream was “hugely important”, particularly as the size of the WA grain crop increased. “This is an issue that has been around for a long time,” he said. “I think farmers probably pay more than their fair share at the moment. “So I think it’s a positive step forward. Everybody’s got to pay for Australia’s biosecurity, not just farmers.” WAFarmers president John Hassell slammed the prior “laissez-faire” approach to biosecurity funding and welcomed the long-term strategy, labelling it “much better”. “The money needs to be spent wisely and needs decent oversight,” he said. “The general community is going to benefit, so importers should be paying some of the costs. “That is absolutely right and proper. Farmers are paying their fair share.” Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA president Tony Seabrook said the Federal Government should recognise the entire nation benefited from a solid biosecurity system. “At end of the day, it’s a bit like community health — don’t for one second let them dress it up as some service to agriculture, every single person in Australia benefits from the fact that we have a good healthy, clean industry,” he said. “They need to be careful that they don’t sort of hive off every responsibility that would normally be a government responsibility to the industry.” The Budget also revealed funding for agriculture would be boosted by increased passenger movement charges, which is expected to total $520m between 2022-23 and 2026-27. The Federal Government plans to introduce “cost recovery arrangements” for clearance of low-value imported cargo, expected to net $81.3m over three years from 2024-25. The Commonwealth expects to net $586m in agricultural levies in the 2023-24 financial year, rising to $614m by 2026-27 — still below the $631m expected in the current financial year. It expects to spend $74m in the wool industry in 2023-24 — an increase of $7m in a year, and rising to $95m by 2025-26. Grains industry investment is forecast to be flat after a $42m uptick in 2023-24 from the prior year, while dairy investment will fall from $52m in 2023-24 to $49m in 2026-27m. Cattle, sheep and pig industry funds will rise from $266m in 2023-24 to $288m, but fishing and horticulture spending will slide from $460m to $388m in 2026-27. The lion’s share of agriculture, forestry and fishing spending changes are in natural resources development, which is forecast to slide from $2.45b in 2023-24 to just $344m in 2026-27. The Government says total expenses in the area are largely due to the completion of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Also included in the Budget was $38.3m for the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences to improve its data collection and analysis on the impact of climate change and low emissions technology on agriculture — to be partially offset from portfolio savings — and $145.2m to upgrade digital biosecurity services, freeing up biosecurity workers and reducing border congestion. The Government also reaffirmed its commitment to rolling out country-of-origin seafood labelling within 12 months. In last year’s Budget, $134 million was committed to new biosecurity measures including extra frontline staff, 20 new detector dogs, and stronger defences against foot and mouth disease and other emerging threats.