Labor promised no frontline service cuts - yet the Premier is now targeting Victoria's incredible team of agricultural research scientists.
This is a total disregard for the 21,300 farm businesses across Victoria - the lifeblood of our regional communities - who generate well over $14 billion in agricultural produce and drive around 27 per cent of Australia's total food and fibre exports, worth $20.1 billion.
Labor has only budgeted $537.2 million for Agriculture Victoria in 2025-26 - down from $614.8 million in 2024-25.
These budget cuts, along with the loss of critical staff, gut the very people who protect Victorian agriculture and the scientists whose blue-sky research is vital to keeping our farmers competitive in a global market.
It is a huge blow to an industry already under pressure.
Adding insult to injury, the Allan Labor Government's new emergency services tax will hit farmers with a tax increase of up 150 per cent on their rates bills.
At a time when farmers are grappling with skyrocketing input costs, drought and economic uncertainty, Labor just keeps slugging them harder.
These cuts to research scientists - on top of the emergency services tax - highlight the contempt the Allan Labor Government has for our hardworking farmers, who are once again paying the price for Labor's incompetence.
Victorian agriculture deserves better. Our farmers deserve better.
