The nation is now one step closer to more sustainable solutions to fund its biosecurity systems, NSW Farmers says as a flawed biosecurity tax is scrapped by the Senate.
NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said the move to bin the biosecurity bill today had come as a relief to thousands of farmers, who had been calling for better biosecurity solutions to fight an increasing number of exotic pests and diseases.
“We’d like to thank Senator Bridget McKenzie and her Senate colleagues, who stood up for farmers and voted to remove this flawed tax from Parliament today,” Mr Martin said.
“This levy bill was nothing more than a cash grab for consolidated revenue, with no functional plans in place to collect this levy – let alone put it to good use.
“NSW Farmers has joined farm leaders in a long battle over the past year to block this senseless double tax on farmers, and so it’s a real win it’s finally off the table for good.”
Moving forward, Mr Martin said it was imperative smarter solutions for biosecurity funding were explored, with risk creators still yet to be properly taxed to cover the costs of the risks they create.
“Continued biosecurity funding is essential – and on that we can all agree – but it must be equitable and sensible if we want safeguard our nation,” Mr Martin said.
“A charge on import shipping containers is just one of these ways we could ensure that funding draws on our risk creators, rather than just our farmers, to bolster our borders and other measures to reduce our biosecurity risk.
“Listening to all the options available and developing better biosecurity solutions is essential if governments want to protect our borders and stop pushing farmers even further into even riskier businesses.”
