LNP Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the Palaszczuk government is slashing and burning the 'once great' Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Speaking in response to today's Queensland Budget delivered by Treasurer Jackie Trad, Ms Frecklington said while the number of bureaucrats in Brisbane had grown more than 25,000 since 2015, the departments that supported rural and regional industries continued to miss out.
"The department will lose more than 106 full time equivalent staff including staff from Biosecurity Queensland and the Queensland Rural Industry Development Authority," Ms Frecklington said.
"Labor's cuts to frontline biosecurity staff is a disgrace and a massive blow to farmers and the wider industry."
Ms Frecklington said there was no extra funding to combat feral pests and weeds that were running rampant across our state.
"Labor don't care about farmers and the regions they support," she said.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the 2019-20 budget for agriculture and fisheries was $525m and contained ongoing funding to support producers grappling with serious and persistent drought conditions across much of the state.
The headline item was more than $17 million to be spent on a shark control program over the next four years.