Rudd scraps FarmHelp and FarmBiz

The Rudd Government will not proceed with funding for the FarmHelp program, announced in the Budget papers last night. The National’s Senator for New South Wales, Fiona Nash, said the Government will also not proceed with funding for the FarmBis program. “The Rudd Government says that scrapping FarmBis will generate for them savings of $37.1 million over five years,” she said. “They go on to say that wiping out FarmHelp will ‘save’ them $97.4 million over five years.” “These aren’t ‘savings’, they are a direct attack by the Labor Government on rural and regional communities,” she said. Senator Nash said these ‘savings’ will hit rural and regional communities at a time when they are under considerable strain from the drought and from the extraordinary rises in the costs of producing food and fibre for Australians. “Prime Minister Rudd’s cutbacks to programs assisting country Australians, which are designed to improve their viability and business acumen, are mean-spirited, short-sighted and callous,” she said. “He must retain programs like FarmBis and FarmHelp, especially during a drought-affected time like this or the catch-cry, ‘Rudd’s a Dud’, will grow louder and stronger throughout rural and regional Australia.”

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