Agricultural commitments in MYEFO

A statement issued by Mr Joyce, ahead of the government releasing its MYEFO forecast, highlighted funding for several promises made in the Coalition’s $240 million agricultural election policy.

However, it did not show where any potential funding cuts from the agricultural portfolio to go with what’s expected to be another tight budgetary outlook.

MYEFO will update spending measures revealed in the May budget, while this year’s announcement will also detail funding promises outlined during the mid-year federal election campaign.

In highlighting the farm sector’s overall economic contribution to the national economy, Mr Joyce’s media statement said agricultural production had been forecast to surpass $60 billion in 2016-17 “for the first time ever”.

It also detailed commitments to funding programs like $25.6 million, out to 2020–21, to relocate the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to Armidale, “to establish a world-class agricultural research hub”.

It also showed funding for election commitments like; $4m for the Casino Beef Week and Beef Australia expos; $5m for a leadership in agriculture industries fund; $4m to develop a northern Australia rice industry; and $2m to establish a milk pricing commodity index to support dairy farmers with future planning.

Today’s MYEFO announcement will also include $4m for the National Institute for Forest Products Innovation that the government announced earlier this year, Mr Joyce’s statement said.

He said the MYEFO funding announcements underlined the government’s commitment to practical policies and measures, backed up with “genuine investment” to benefit Australia’s farmers, agricultural industries and rural and regional communities.

“This government is committed to ensuring our water resources are well-managed and to providing security and leadership on water issues at a national level well into the future,” he said.

“The Coalition government is providing ongoing funding for essential water programs including; ongoing funding for the Murray-Darling Basin Authority; for the Bureau of Meteorology to continue its vital water information functions; for the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office for the management of environmental water; and funding for the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources to continue its important work in managing water issues at a national level.

“The Coalition remains committed to delivering the Basin Plan, ensuring healthy and sustainable rivers while ensuring the economic and social wellbeing of Basin communities.

“Today’s ongoing funding announcement puts that commitment in writing.”

Mr Joyce said like good water resource management, biosecurity was also vital to ensuring agricultural industries had a strong and secure future.

“That is why we are also delivering $30.9m for a new biosecurity integrated information system, which will update ageing systems and ensure Australia can manage modern threats,” he said.

“The biosecurity integrated information system is another example of the Coalition delivering on initiatives from the $4 billion Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper.

“The system will produce detailed pest and disease information to support agricultural exports to assist farmers to compete globally, where recent and future trade deals will continue to open markets for a range of our agricultural exports.

“We will continue to deliver on our commitment to establishing establish centres of excellence across regional Australia, by relocating Canberra-based rural research and development agencies to where boots hit the dirt in regional Australia.

“The Coalition government will continue to work hard to deliver practical policies and sensible measures, backed up with proper funding, to deliver tangible benefits to our farmers and rural and regional communities.”

An election commitment not referred to in the MYEFO media release - but unveiled during the election campaign - was Mr Joyce’s move to implement a Regional Investment Corporation (RIC).

The aim of the RIC was to streamline bureaucratic administration for delivering millions of dollars in Commonwealth funded drought and farm finance concessional loans, through a central agency, rather than various state and territory governments, and also oversight billions of dollars for the National Water Infrastructure Loans Facility.

Another election policy commitment was $8.3m to support community expectations of improved animal welfare standards in Australia’s live export markets, while remaining commercially competitive, by completing the Livestock Export Global Assurance Program (LEGAP).

Other water initiatives listed in the election policy includes; $130m for Rookwood Weir’s construction near Rockhampton in Queensland, to be matched by the State government; $20m was committed for upgrades for the Macalister Irrigation District in Victoria’s Gippsland region; and $20m for constructing the south-west Loddon pipeline in central Victoria.

The election policy also included $1.8m in additional funds for the Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities not for profit charity program and $1.2m over three years to support the thoroughbred industry’s request to establish an R&D levy by July 1 next year with matching Commonwealth funding.

The policy also said Mr Joyce’s Department would be directed to work with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to identify suitable projects for investment in agribusiness, like abattoirs, sugar mills and dairy processors, in areas like micro hydro-power generation or on-farm renewables.