Victoria's peak farming body has decided against providing the state government with a pre-budget submission - saying its previous efforts have "fallen on deaf ears."
The Victorian Farmers Federation has instead sent a two page letter to Treasurer Tim Pallas outlining what it says are two simple requests - to improve road and biosecurity funding.
"We have asked over and over and over again," president Emma Germano said.
"We put great effort into our budget submissions and costings for all these different programs - and it has fallen on deaf ears," president Emma Germano said.
She said the spending shortfall on areas outside Melbourne was particularly bad during the government's last term.
"We need two things - we have frequently asked the government for all the other things and they should know what they are.
"[The two things] are roads, roads and more roads funding and we also want better, dedicated resources for biosecurity," she said.
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Ms Germano said representatives of the four Victorian shire councils who had been particularly badly affected by last year's floods had also been contacting the VFF.
"I have had councillors who have called and said 'what are we going to do to get this government's attention, because we can't manage our budgets?," she said.
Councils were trying to get their budgets and rating strategy right, Ms Germano said.
"When it comes to road maintenance, road managers are not equipped for the task of strategically planning around asset maintenance, repair and upgrades because they are forced to go cap in hand, year after year," the letter said.
"They are forced to look after roads that are used by all Victorians but are funded largely by regional rate payers: the inequity of this situation is galling."
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The condition of regional and rural roads was of critical importance to Victorian farmers as it related directly to the profitability of their businesses, the letter pointed out.
"Supply chain costs often account for the single largest cost in agricultural production.
"Ultimately, fixing our roads has an importance that is far greater than for economic benefit."
Failure to provide funding certainty for biosecurity initiatives meant the government had been unable to put into place procedures and contracts required to ensure an immediate and rapid response in the event of a widescale emergency animal disease outbreak, Ms Germano said.
"This has been an identified priority within government for over a decade, yet the action required hasn't been taken," she said in the letter.
Biosecurity was an issue that was bigger than agriculture, with implications for other industries, the environment and human health.
"It is a core responsibility of government to protect its citizens from the harm created by these threats," Ms Germano said in the letter.
"Victorians now have a living memory of food insecurity and supermarket shelves going empty.
"Without certainty around our biosecurity and supply chain efficiencies, we cannot assure the community of their access to healthy Victorian grown food, at an affordable price."
Putting in a budget submission was "just like a wish list that never happens, she said.
The return on time and investment required to put in a detailed submission could not be justified.
"I don't know whether we are supposed to feel relieved that they [the government] have shelved these giant infrastructure spends, or that we should be disgusted that they went to the election with these promises, only to turn around and say they don't have the money for them," she said.
Farmers were looking for a sign from the government that it genuinely understood and cared about the issues affecting food and fibre production, in Victoria, the letter said.
"The continued drip feed of funds from one budget to the next does little to give the government's departments and agencies responsible for delivery the certainty they need to do their job," Ms Germano said.
The VFF appreciated the fiscal challenge facing the state's budget position as a consequences of the government's financial management, particularly in responding to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the neglect that farming and regional communities felt because of government underinvestment, long predated the pandemic, Ms Germano said.
The state budget will be brought down on May 23.
A Victorian government spokesperson said just as all Victorians were facing cost of living challenges with rising interest rates and inflation, the budget would also consider current economic conditions.
"The Budget will deliver on our election commitments as we continue our strong economic recovery," the spokesperson said.
"We continue to prioritise biosecurity threats to our agriculture industry - over the past nine months we've invested $33 million to improve our rapid response to threats like foot-and-mouth disease."
"We're also investing in regional roads, with $780 million allocated in the last budget to maintain the state's roads - the majority of this funding is allocated to regional arterial roads."
The government said more than $4 billion had been invested in renewing and maintaining the state's roads since 2018, rebuilding, resurfacing and repairing more than 2430 kilometres of the state's roads, including 1800 kilometres of roads across regional Victoria during the 2020-21 financial year.
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
