Australian Government Redirects $200m in Agriculture Funding Toward Trade, Biosecurity and CSIRO in Federal Budget

The federal government announced cuts of nearly $200 million over five years from agriculture, fisheries and forestry in last night's budget. The funding will be redirected towards other policy priorities within the portfolio, with about one third now going towards securing agricultural export and trade opportunities.

More than $104 million will be cut from grant programs, including the Pest and Disease Preparedness and Response Programs.

3 billion every year, according to the agriculture department. In some states and territories, these costs can be as much as 17 per cent of the local value of production. Rabbits alone cost Australian agriculture more than $200 million a year, the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions reported.

The effectiveness of existing viruses used for rabbit control is declining and rabbit numbers are rebounding. The biocontrol program for rabbits is already years behind. About $3 million over three years is needed to develop a virus to control exploding numbers of European feral rabbits, invasive species organisations said, though developing a new virus could take up to a decade.

Conservation groups welcomed short-term native species funding that supports feral animal control projects. 8 million over two years for the Saving Native Species fund. Independent senator David Pocock said no programs that protect and manage our incredible biodiversity were extended by more than a year or two.

Pocock described this year's budget as a short-sighted and tragic budget for nature. Long-term financial security is the only way for weed and pest eradication programs to succeed, according to Jack Gough from the Invasive Species Council. There is quite a significant boost to funding for the CSIRO of over $300 million, Gough noted, expressing hope that some of the increase will support rabbit biocontrol work.

National Farmers' Federation chief executive Michael Guerin said the budget had made some pretty savage cuts to the department that we rely on, in areas that we believe we need investment. Pests and weeds remain a significant challenge for Australia, Guerin stated. Biosecurity, if we get it wrong and we allow something in, we could spend generations regretting it, he added.

About $56 million will go to border and fisheries authorities to monitor Australia's northern waters for illegal foreign fishing vessels. The Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness facility east of Melbourne will receive $38 million, ongoing from 2030-31.

The facility recently tested samples from the Australian territory of Heard Island that confirmed H5 bird flu in elephant seals and gentoo penguins.

The funding will upgrade the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness centre's facilities to continue monitoring for biosecurity and disease threats, the government said. Guerin called the biosecurity and CSIRO funding announcements good examples within a broader package of cuts. Abc reported that invasive species groups hope money for rabbit biocontrol can be found despite the reductions.

Jack Gough said fire ants will continue to spread if we don't have the level of funding that's needed to contain them and eradicate them. We need to stop treating these projects as optional extras, they need to be core parts of the budget that don't get cut year to year, he added.