Victoria’s State Budget reveals that regional Victorians and farmers are being unfairly forced to pay the price of the Andrews Government’s infrastructure cost blowouts and years of fiscal mismanagement in Melbourne.
VFF President Emma Germano said “regional Victoria contributes almost 15 per cent to the state’s economy and is the home of about a quarter of all Victorians, but has been left reeling with only five per cent investment in the State Budget.”
It comes as important government responsibilities like protecting agriculture from biosecurity threats could be put at risk by reduced funding to the Agriculture Department.
“Despite some short-term investment for biosecurity funding, the large reduction to the agriculture portfolio’s budget will lump added strain onto the biosecurity system. Victorians just can’t afford for this strain to reach breaking point,” Ms Germano said.
Read more on what this Budget means for regional Victorians.