The biosecurity levy continues to bubble away as the ag sector's major priority in early 2024.
Grains peak body GrainGrowers has gone public to affirm its position that government needs to work quickly to resolve the issues surrounding its proposed levy on the ag sector to fund further biosecurity projects.
GrainGrowers has been less public in its calls to government than its fellow grains sector peak body Grain Producers Australia but GrainGrowers chief executive Shona Gawel said it was important government recognised industry's concerns with the levy plans.
"As an industry, we recognise there is significant apprehension about the proposed biosecurity protection levy and have discussed these concerns directly with the (agriculture) minister," she said.
"To progress the issue, we need the government to now carefully listen and act on the sensible industry requests that have been put forward."
Ms Gawel acknowledged it was a complicated situation but said GrainGrowers had provided a detailed response to the government on its major points of concern around efficiency, transparency and accountability.
Similar to other groups, GrainGrowers has concerns about the equity of the proposed levy.
Ms Gawel said GrainGrowers has been seeking a resolution to the outstanding issue of a risk creator or container levy and has also highlighted concerns around the equitability, efficiency and transparency of the proposed biosecurity protection levy.
"Our position with the government is that there must be demonstrated improvement in biosecurity outcomes for growers due to any changes to the funding model and the collection of a biosecurity protection."
Other groups continued to attack the proposed levy.
GPA continued to hammer home its point that the ag sector was not the only winner from improved biosecurity.
"Somehow the government's proposed tax only targets producers as 'beneficiaries' and somehow ignores the fact we're also significant taxpayers," said GPA chairman Barry Large.
"There's been an extremely high degree of unity amongst farmers and their representative groups in opposing this new tax - and this solidarity is virtually unprecedented."
Canegrowers has also issued harsh criticism of the planned levy.
Chairman of Canegrowers Owen Menkens said the proposed levy would in fact operate like a new tax on farmers, saying the introduction of such a tax would be akin to fining the victims of crime while the perpetrators walk away scot-free.
"What the government is proposing is not what we traditionally understand as a levy, where those contributing have, through their representative bodies, some sort of oversight of how that money is spent," he said.
"Instead, funds from this new levy would disappear into a blackhole in Canberra where we would have no idea how or where they are used by the government."
"That's not a levy, that's a tax.
"And what's worse, it's a tax on the wrong people.
"If the government wants to raise additional funding for biosecurity measures, they should firstly look to the cause of many of our biosecurity breaches - importers and shipping companies - not to the farmers whose livelihoods are threatened by such breaches."