Food for thought: Dan’s plan for “paddock to plate” funding

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Daniel Andrews is promising a $200million dollar “agriculture infrastructure and jobs fund”, but only if the sale of the lease of the Port of Melbourne goes through Parliament next week, (lots of time to analyse the proposal, hey).

imagePremier Andrews said the four-year fund would “support Victorian farmers from paddock to plate” by assisting in areas pertaining to “education, transport infrastructure, water infrastructure, biosecurity”.

Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) president Peter Tuohey expressed support for this proposed fund by stating “We expect we will see benefits from the $200 million [investment], which will probably return double that, $400 million, to rural economies,”

Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Nationals Peter Walsh said regional Victoria was getting the “scraps off the table” from this sale.

Given the fact that the Victorian agricultural budget was cut by 12%, including a $9 million dollar loss to R&D and it’s extension I think it’s only fair that rural voters examine the $200million fund of which the Premier promises.

Also only 2.9% of the state’s major infrastructure projects have been scheduled for regions outside the Metropolitan area and the regional development budget has been cut by 24%. Which further reinforces the city centric focus of the Andrew’s government so far.

All three men have varying farming backgrounds.
Daniel Andrews early years were spent on his parents Wangaratta farm, until he turned 18 and attended university in Melbourne, (where he became involved in Labor Party politics).

Peter Tuohey is a fifth-generation grain, wool and prime lamb producer from Pyramid Hill, Victoria.

Peter Walsh is a former operator of an irrigated horticulture and cropping enterprise, producing tomatoes, cereals, oilseeds and legumes. He was a former president of the VFF (1998 to 2002), director of SPC Limited, a member of the state Food Industry Advisory Council, and a board member of the National Farmers Federation.

I would say if the Premier is fair dinkum about this $200million focusing on jobs, he should ensure that the Regional Living Expo, (which promotes business opportunities in regional Victoria,) is returned an allocation of the funding.

Food for thought.