What farmers need to know about the federal budget

The 2025 federal budget has been announced. We’ve broken down the figures for agriculture. This is what farmers need to know.

Less than $50 million has been allocated specifically to agriculture in the federal budget, with expectations from ag leaders that cash will be splashed in the impending election campaign.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down his fourth budget on Tuesday night, his final economic prospectus before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls a general election.

Dr Chalmers said the Albanese Government would pursue “a fair go for families at the checkout and farmers at the farm gate.”

His comments come less than a week after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released its probe into supermarket conduct, which he touched on during his budget speech.

“We know that Australians are still under pressure, and a lot of that pressure is felt at the checkout,” the Treasurer said.

“That’s why we’re cracking down on the supermarkets.

“By empowering the competition watchdog, making the Food and Grocery Code mandatory, increasing penalties and boosting competition.”

The Albanese Government specified $45.2 million over three years from 2025–26 for agriculture-specific initiatives, including:

– $23.8m to sponsor agricultural trade events, with the majority going to Beef Australia;

– $11m to control feral animals, pests and weeds;

– $6.8m for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to sustain non‑regulatory agricultural export and trade functions;

– $3.5m over two years from 2025–26 to develop a National Food Security Strategy.

Dr Chalmers warned Australian agriculture and industry that both the Chinese and American economy were projected to be sluggish as the 2020s rolled on.

“Treasury expects the global economy to grow 3.25 per cent for the next three years – its slowest since the 1990s,” the Treasurer said.

“It’s already forecasting the two biggest economies in the world will slow next year – with risks weighing more heavily on both.

“Australia is neither uniquely impacted nor immune from these pressures, but we are among the best placed to navigate them.”

The lack of big-ticket agricultural spending in the budget matched National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke’s expectation earlier this week that “a bit (funding) will be in the budget, and a bit in the election campaign.”

In regional spending outside agriculture, no statewide cash package was allocated to repairing regional Victoria’s road network.

Federal Transport Minister Catherine King said the Albanese Government had “increased support to local councils to maintain local roads” by doubling Roads to Recovery funding.

In her regional infrastructure statement, Ms King said the Roads to Recovery program had been “progressively increasing from $500m per year to $1 billion per year” across Australia.

Regional leaders including Victorian Farmers Federation president Brett Hosking have been calling for Canberra to make a regional Victoria-specific contribution to road maintenance, following on from the 2022 floods.

However, a new $1b package of peri-urban road works was announced by Ms King for “Melbourne’s suburbs and surrounds.”

One of the few regional Victorian road projects singled out for attention was the Western Highway, with $1.1b to be spent on the link — $100m of which was singled out to upgrade the Brewery Tap Road intersection near Ballarat.

In Ms King’s joint statement with Regional Development Minister Kristy McBain, they promoted the government’s investment in regional healthcare, including the expansion of Medicare and bulk billing.

A $606m package over four years is aimed at training more general practitioners — with 50 per cent of additional GP trainee placements assigned to regional Australia.

Victoria will gain three new Medicare Urgent Care centres, to be located in Torquay, Warragul and Warrnambool.

Also contained in the budget was the previously announced $20m to encourage consumers to buy Australian-made products.

The nine-figure bail-out of embattled regional airline Rex was also factored into the budget statement, with $50m spent on covering debt owed to Rex’s largest creditor, as well as $80m loan facility to the airline administrators.

“Building Australia’s future means building on the strength of our regions,” Dr Chalmers said. “That’s why we are securing banking services in country towns and flights in the bush.”