The National Farmers Federation (NFF) has seized upon a report by the Productivity Commission (PC) into the government's proposed biosecurity protection levy as further evidence the plan is ill conceived.
The NFF was on the front foot in regards to the proposed, which the government wants to use to raise around $50 million annually from the agriculture sector to help fund its biosecurity operations, labelling it 'deeply flawed'.
The PC released its 'Towards Levyathan? Industry levies in Australia' research paper recently and used the proposed levy as a case study, raising numerous red flags about the policy's design.
The NFF said it echoed the same concerns it had raised on the issue.
"The report has identified the biosecurity protection levy has a number of significant design faults - something the NFF has been saying consistently," NFF President David Jochinke said.
"The report highlights significant issues with the design, including its accountability, efficiency, how equitably the funding load is spread and a lack of clear links to outcomes valued by industry," he said.
"Importantly, it shows that concerns raised by the NFF and much of the industry were not us simply playing politics or looking to avoid contributing more to the biosecurity system."
"The NFF has been very consistent in its approach to this issue, this is about the policy construct, not us wanting to avoid paying more.
"This report supports our concerns and it's on the Government now to explain how it will address these issues prior to introducing legislation."
He said the government now needed to address the issues before attempting to introduce the levy.
"In particular policies that may have an impact on the levy system is something we take incredibly seriously. You botch this and confidence in the whole system goes down."
Mr Jochinke said the NFF had particular concerns about the time frame to get the levy in place by July 1 which it said was inadequate for a policy of this size and complexity.
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
