Billions of dollars have been "ripped away" from regional Australians, the Nationals leader says as he steps up his attack on the government's biosecurity levy.
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David Littleproud accused the government of ceding sovereignty to foreign competitors, instead urging for a tax on importers to pay for the risks they pose.
"To think the Australian government could put a tax on Australian farmers so they can pay the biosecurity costs of their foreign competitors to bring their product into this country is perverse," he told reporters on Friday.
The previous government had been working on implementing an importer container levy last year, Mr Littleproud says, which if Labor enacted would save farmers from having to pay $153 million.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt earlier defended the levy as a "modest ask", arguing farmers should help pay for measures they will ultimately benefit from.
"We think that it's important that the responsibility for biosecurity is shared," he said on Thursday, noting extra charges will be imposed on importers as well.
Mr Littleproud said the federal budget failed to fix childcare accessibility in regional areas, calling for the $4.7 billion set aside for childcare affordability to have funds quarantined to make services available in the country.
"We don't have an affordability issue, we have an accessibility issue," he said.
"There's a cost of living crisis for regional Australians because they can't get back to work because they can't find a place for their children to have child care."
It came amid a broader warning that small towns could be deprived of doctors and pharmacists after changes allowing foreign GPs to work in major cities instead of the country and a shake-up to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme.
"The government needs to stop, pause and actually understand you need bespoke models for regional Australia," Mr Littleproud said.
He also attacked the government for raising charges on truck drivers to help pay for road maintenance costs, despite cancelling $23 billion of infrastructure projects and pausing $120 billion more.
"This is a charge that (the trucking industry) expects to get something in return and that's with roads," Mr Littleproud said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the $120 billion was "still in the budget".
"I think the people of Australia expect us to get value for money from our $120 billion, 10-year infrastructure pipeline," he told reporters in Brisbane on Friday.
Senator Watt told ABC radio it's only right that heavy vehicles, who contribute more to road wear and tear, pay their fair share.
"It's fair enough that people like you and me as taxpayers contribute to that, but so should the heavy vehicle industry as well," he said.
Australian Associated Press
