PEAK horticultural groups say a plan by Mildura Council to increase farming rates while cutting dues for residential ratepayers will be the final nail in the coffin for some of the region’s growers.
Dried fruit, tablegrape, winegrape, almond and citrus representatives have joined forces in opposition to the increase of the farming differential rate from 76 to 90 per cent, while also saving residential ratepayers a median $74 a year.
Councillors last week agreed five votes to four to implement the changes, which will reduce the residential rate burden from 64.7 per cent to 61.8 per cent of total rates, while increasing the farming rate from 17.3 per cent to 19.6 per cent. The business rate will also rise from 17.8 per cent to 18.6 per cent.
Murray Valley Winegrowers executive officer Paul Derrico said the rate rise would hit growers “at the worst possible time”.
Mr Derrico said some growers had crops completely wiped out this harvest with a widespread downy mildew outbreak, while others had lost the majority of their crops.
“Those who were able to get through recorded production about 10 per cent down on an average harvest,” he said.
“Some won’t have an income this season yet they face additional costs through inflation and an across-the-board reduction in winegrape prices, some of which have been well below the cost of production.
“On top of this, they are now being told that they can afford to pay higher rates when some of them simply cannot.
“This decision, essentially approved by five of the nine councillors, is simply kicking growers when they are down.
“Most of the region relies on horticulture directly or indirectly and this will put another nail in the coffin of battling growers and will have an impact on the broader community.”
Mr Derrico said the region’s peak industry bodies were not consulted over the planned changes and the results of a wider community survey, which showed the vast majority of respondents wanted the differential rates to remain unchanged, appeared to have been ignored.
“Council staff that recommended the increase and those councillors who voted in favour of the change are totally out of touch with reality and what is going on in our community.
“Growers are disappointed and angry and deservedly so.”
Australian Table Grape Association CEO Jeff Scott said growers had reacted to the rate hike with extreme frustration.
“There is a lot of anger … there’s a lot of bewilderment and they just can’t understand why horticulturists are being ostracised and not being included as the rest of the population of Sunraysia,” he said.
“Everyone knows that farming has been struggling over the past two or three years because of COVID, there’s been massive input increases and yet there’s been very little returns so growers are going backwards.
“The council says it has consulted but this is just another fait accompli … tick the box.
“If you tread on those farms and you make it very difficult for them to be sustainable, then the whole township is going to suffer.”
Almond Board of Australia chief executive officer Tim Jackson said the region’s almond growers would come under a lot of pressure this season, especially given low commodity prices and even lower yields.
“This (rate increase) will not be well received,” he said.
“It looks like we’ll be enduring the toughest season the industry has ever had.
“We were expecting a bumper crop, but yields are down ridiculously and we’ve already got inputs at ridiculously high levels, so this couldn’t be timed any worse.
“This smacks of council not understanding the plight of the industries that drive the economy in the region.
“We all understand more than anyone that costs are going up and we’re copping that in the neck, but right now we’re heading into unprecedented territory and I think most of the industries are around yields and pricing.
“You can’t go playing swings and merry-go-rounds and lowering costs at one end and try to subsidise it at the other … that’s not fair.”
Dried Fruits Australia CEO Thomas Cheung said the rate hike comes after two less-than-average years of production with growers particularly hit hard this season by floods and downy mildew, in particular, impacting volumes.
“The industry has copped a pretty hard hit so the timing of the rate rise could not have come at a worse time,” he said.
“Perhaps the changes could have been delayed a year or two when things are on the improve because everyone will feel the pain, not just the smaller growers, but the medium to large as well.
“We’re all feeling terribly bad about it.”
