Huge increases to the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund has topped the list of concerns in the Victorian Farmers Federation’s (VFF) inaugural State of the State: Victorian Farmer Priorities Survey.
More than 700 Victorian farmers outlined their lack of trust in the Victorian Government, with nine in ten saying they don’t believe the state government understands their issues or has a positive plan to grow the $20 billion dollar industry.
Overall, there were 718 responses to the survey which was in-field from July 31 to August 18.
Majority of respondents (86.4 per cent) were farmers who own or manage a farm.
86 per cent were ‘very concerned’ by the emergency services levy, followed by new taxes and regulation (78 per cent), road and freight network (67 per cent) and managing biosecurity (65 per cent).
Across all commodities ranging from beef, sheep meat, wool, dairy and horticulture, all had the emergency services levy listed as their top concern.
Broken down into regions, West and South Gippsland had new taxes and regulations, emergency services levy and roads and freight as the top concerns.
The survey quotes a West Gippsland farmer stating, “The new levy is unfair and unaffordable. Most farmland is mortgaged, and the value of and does not have any bearing on our ability to earn an income.”
When asked if the state government has a positive plan to grow agriculture, 68 per cent highlighted ‘strongly disagree’.
Another West Gippsland farmer stated in the survey, “State Government needs to be more supportive of country communities, we are getting left behind in all aspects.”
VFF president Brett Hosking said the frank results should ring alarm bells for the Victorian Government and be a ‘wake up’ call for genuine engagement and discussion with farmers and rural communities.
“Farmers and our regional communities have sent a blunt message that they aren’t being listened to and have lost faith that our Victorian Government has their back.”
“From massive increases to the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, roads literally falling apart and communities being steamrolled in the face of renewable energy infrastructure, farmers have a lot to worry about.”
“More than 92 per cent of farmers don’t believe the Victorian Government understands or is even listening to the concerns of farming communities. That’s a massive indictment and it must change, because they’ve lost the trust of these farming communities,” Mr Hosking said.
Despite the blunt results of the survey, Mr Hosking said there remains considerable opportunity and a bright outlook for Victorian agriculture.
“Victorian farmers are the best in the nation at what they do. We produce 25 per cent of Australia’s food and fibre value using just 3 per cent of Australia’s farmland. We employ more than 150 thousand people and contribute more than $20 billion to Victoria’s and Australia’s economy.”
To view the full State of the State: Victorian Farmer Priorities Survey report, visit shorturl.at/L6pUT
