The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) praised the Government’s move to slash payroll tax by 25 per cent for regional businesses paying at least 85 per cent of their payroll to rural-based employees.
“We’re delighted to see payroll tax cut down to 3.6 per cent in this year’s budget because it’s a move that will ensure many small businesses remain sustainable,” VFF president David Jochinke said.
“The VFF has advocated for years to cut the payroll tax as a way to help grow rural businesses and communities, and the Andrews Government has shown today that it values investment in rural industries.”
The Government also committed to scrapping insurance duties on agricultural products for insurance against flood, fire and other accidental provisions.
“The VFF has opposed this tax for years and it’s great to see the Government listening to the concerns of farmers because getting rid of insurance duties will relieve an unnecessary financial stress on our primary producers,” Mr Jochinke said.
“Farmers need to be able to feed our state and by getting rid of insurance duties, primary producers will have more affordable options to manage the increasing level of risk they face each year.”
Mr Jochinke said while the VFF welcomed budgetary measures on regional infrastructure, telecommunications and biosecurity that would benefit farmers, there was still a lot of work needed to support primary producers.
He said the VFF had been hoping for State Governments funds to help regional and rural local governments maintain, repair and upgrade local roads. He said having the State Goverment footing the bill for the operational costs of the Victorian SES, instead of sharing them with local government, could free up some local government money to spend on other projects including roads.
On regional rail, Mr Jochinke said while the measures under the Regional Rail Revival package were good, its delivery relied on the Victorian Government receiving Federal Government funds as part of the National Partnership Agreement on Asset Recycling.
Mr Jochinke said energy generation and prices were “noticeably not mentioned” in the budget, other than the program to research onshore conventional gas exploration and development in Victoria.
“We’re hoping there’s still more to come, because in budget announcements, you see funding for a lot of specific projects and programs but you don’t see big strategy, and we need to get that right to address the energy crisis.”
He said gas and electricity generation and pricing in Victoria was a complex issue and the VFF was having discussions with the State and Federal Government about energy.
The $11 million the Victorian Budget outlaid for the Mobile Black Spots program was well below the $30 million the VFF had hoped for.
“Are are some measures for agriculture to access data and that’s a key area for us as well, and we’re interested in how it will be implemented.”
