Livestock compensation fund holdings hit $57 million

Victoria’s bloated Livestock Compensation fund now holds $57.4 million, leading to calls to halve cattle transaction duties.

Halving Victoria’s $5 cattle transaction levy would save the average producer selling 300 head a year $750.

Victoria’s $5 cattle transaction duty could be halved to save the average producer about $750 a year, with little to no impact on the state’s bloated livestock compensation fund, says a key industry source.

Financials tabled in parliament last week show the fund has grown from $28 million in 2019 to $57.4m, as of June 30 this year, with almost twice as much flowing into the account as was paid out to support industry biosecurity and Agriculture Victoria projects.

The State Revenue Office collected $11.63m in duties from livestock producers in 2023-24, almost double the $6m it collected in 2022-23.

While beekeepers, sheep, goat and pig producers contribute to the fund, at least $40m of the duty has been collected from cattle producers.

Agriculture Minister Ros Spence said $6.1m of the funds was allocated to 38 projects in 2024.

Yet her own department has not released any reports detailing cattle, sheep and goat producer-funded projects since 2020.

Agriculture Victoria’s website makes no mention of the 2021 report and simply states the 2022 project summary for the Cattle Compensation Fund was “expected in September 2024”, but is yet to be uploaded.

One industry source close to the fund, said the minister regarded cutting the transaction levy as “a low priority”.

Earlier this year VFF Livestock group president Scott Young told The Weekly Times cutting the transaction cattle duty would “definitely be something we’d be interested in” and urged Agriculture Victoria to seek feedback from producers.

But when asked why she had failed to act on that advice, Ms Spence said: “Agriculture Victoria continues to enhance and better streamline the Livestock Biosecurity Funds Grant Program’s assessment and application process to ensure we’re attracting high-value projects that provide solutions to emerging biosecurity challenges and deliver real value for producers across the state.”

“The Livestock Compensation Advisory Committee is working closely with industry to best support projects that drive real outcomes for our farmers while building the long-term resilience of Victoria’s cattle industry to the impacts of cost of living pressures, population growth and climate change.”

Opposition agriculture spokeswoman Emma Kealy said: “We’ve got a fund taking in millions (of dollars) and not expending it, so it’s time for a review.”

“It’s not fair for the government to continue to charge the same amount and just let the funds sit on the books to improve the government’s bottom line.”