The food and beverage industry has welcomed a range of Budget measures aimed at stimulating employment growth, enhancing skills and training, and investment in vital public infrastructure.
Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) CEO Tanya Barden said that the Government’s efforts to return a Budget surplus a year earlier than predicted should be acknowledged.
“The Government is taking action to achieving a surplus of $2.2 billion 2020/21, reducing the uncertainty for business which undermines the confidence and investment essential to underpin jobs and growth,” Barden said.
“The Government has recognised the need to establish and then build ongoing Budget surpluses without resorting to increased taxation that would dampen business and investment confidence and consumer spending.”
Barden also said that the tax cuts for low to middle income earners would also support retail spending, which should have flow on benefits up the FMCG supply chain.
“For the food and grocery and agri-food sectors which are spread across the length and breadth of the country, the significant boost in infrastructure planning and delivery is essential for developing supply chain solutions that create world leading, efficient channels to market,” Barden said.
She said that while the continuation of the SME instant write off is good for small manufacturers and suppliers, the Budget did little to help mitigate high energy prices or stimulate investment in food and grocery manufacturing.
“Continuing to stimulate investment in manufacturing site modernisation is critical particularly in light of mounting input cost pressures,” Barden said.
“We are now in danger of drifting into a low investment trap, where uncertainty about return on investment flowing from retail price deflation and rising costs are seeing investment decisions deferred or dumped.”
Barden welcomed the Government’s announcement of $225 million to improve the accuracy of GPS in Australia, which would greatly assist and improve High Performance Vehicle Road Mapping about which several AFGC members have raised concerns.
“It has been difficult to get accurate maps that show the smaller local roads and led to some uncertainty about what vehicles are allowed in the ‘last mile’ to a delivery.”
Barden also said the Budget’s investment in upskilling the workforce was welcome, given that the $127 billion food and grocery sector is becoming increasingly specialised in the physical manufacturing as well as the computing and software technologies that control processes.
“These funding programs will assist companies meet the skill workforce needs of modern manufacturing.”
