Budget switch will harm rural research, farmers warn

The Abbott government wants to cut $7 million from rural industry research funds to pay for federal bureaucrats to attend global agriculture conferences.

The move has angered Australia’s leading farm groups who are accusing the government of undermining research by cost-shifting to cover department of agriculture expenses.

The bill proposing the funding cut, the Rural Research and Development Legislation Amendment Bill 2014, is now the subject of a Senate rural affairs committee inquiry. Public hearings will begin in Canberra on 11 November.