Farmers demand help.
Australians should be slugged with a Medicare-style levy to help farmers carry out environment works, farmer groups have suggested. In submissions to an inquiry into conservation, farmer groups demanded the community help pay for conservation works. Others warned that farmers would destroy sensitive areas and endangered animals if they were not properly compensated for their environmental efforts. The New South Wales Farmers Association recommended the government collect the Medicare-style levy rather than take funds away from other departments. The group said in its submission that some farmers were already losing money with initiatives improving the general environment.