Thursday 4 May 2017
Despite slugging country Victorians for ten new taxes Daniel Andrews has slashed Victoria’s Agriculture budget.
Labor has cut $32 million from the Agriculture spend in the 2017-18 State Budget despite pushing up taxes by 22 per cent.
No amount of Labor spin can hide this reduction and fears of Agriculture being swallowed up within the super department are ringing true.
Daniel Andrews and Jaala Pulford are bragging about a surplus but have failed to put any new funds into productivity-focussed research and development programs.
Instead they are misleading Victorians on a “˜new’ $85 million biosecurity spend on existing programs and re-announcing funds already flagged for Labor’s go-it-alone eID scheme.
This Budget confirms the Andrews Government has no vision for the future of Victoria’s agriculture sector.
Yet again Labor has splashed cash on Melbourne while giving regional communities the scraps off the table.