Farmers are warning the federal Labor government that its decision to ignore the sector’s suggestions and increase taxes on domestic producers will force up the price of food, pushing the cost of living for Australians even higher.
This comes as the federal government announced in its budget released Tuesday that proposes introducing a new 10 percent levy on all domestic agricultural, fisheries, and forestry producers to fund the cost of a new biosecurity system.
This means that farmers of beef (grass-fed) are looking at paying an extra 50 cents per head of cattle, while a prawn farmer an extra 67 cents per kilogram of whole-farmed prawns. An egg farmer would pay an extra 3.25 cents per bird, and a honey producer would pay just under 5 cents per kilogram….