Australia: Dirty deal for live ex-farmers; government support withheld to 2025

Published 2024년 11월 6일

Tridge summary

Producers reliant on the live sheep trade will face a delay in receiving government support, as funding programs are not expected to open until the next financial year, a wait of at least eight months. This has drawn criticism from Senator Bridget McKenzie and Nationals leader David Littleproud, who believe the government is slow in fulfilling its election promise. Of the $97.3 million funding pool, $45.5 million is allocated for farmers and supply chain participants, with $43.5 million managed through an agreement with the Western Australian government. There are concerns about the lack of data on the number of farmers impacted by the policy to end the live sheep trade, even as demand for Australian live sheep in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, is reportedly increasing.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Producers reliant on the live sheep trade will not see any support money for at least another eight months, Senate Estimates has heard. At the Tuesday hearing Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry representative Andrew McDonald said that the government anticipated that funding programs for farmers would open in the next financial year, following a co-design progress with industry. Senator Bridget McKenzie grilled Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Anthony Chisholm over the timing of the delivery of funding. "This is an election commitment made more than two and a half years ago that's taken two and a half years to actually implement, you've brought forward the date from the original plan and no one's actually going to see any support from this government until after the next federal election," she said. "How is this good enough Minister?" The Senate's Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee heard that out of the $97.3 ...

Source: Farmweekly