Panda funding faces criticism as SA budget leaves drought-affected farmers feeling overlooked

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Unsurprisingly, at the state level, there are differing opinions about what the budget does for South Australia. There's money for Whyalla, road infrastructure and pandas but farmers feel left high and dry in the face of an ongoing drought.

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00:00Jing Cheol munching, blissfully unaware of the cost of keeping Adelaide's panda pair.

00:08South Australians have woken up today to see a budget about pandas and pork barrelling

00:13in the eastern states.

00:14As a not-for-profit conservation charity, our focus is on conservation and it's on the

00:19care of animals.

00:20We would always be thankful for additional funding.

00:23Nothing has changed in last night's agreement.

00:25The budget details a cost to the Commonwealth of nearly four million dollars over four years

00:29for the cuddly creatures.

00:31Money well spent, according to the state.

00:34Pandas are about tourism and they are about relationship with China.

00:40Both of those are enormous earners for South Australia.

00:44What South Australians are also going to see from this federal budget this year is that

00:49there is more for pandas at the Adelaide Zoo than there is for our farmers.

00:54Primary producers had hoped for a bit of extra help amid a dry spell pushing many to the

00:58brink.

00:59I think it's fairly obvious that it was a out-of-suburban mortgage built budget as we

01:04head into an election and that's where it was targeted.

01:06The federal government says it's working with the state to support farmers impacted by the

01:10lack of rain.

01:12Key measures in the budget for SA included previously announced hundreds of millions

01:15for the Wyala Steelworks and $125 million to remove a northern suburbs level crossing.

01:21The federal government has been incredibly responsive to the needs of South Australians

01:25and the Wyala, notwithstanding, they've also put in a lot of additional money.

01:30Confidence from the government that SA received its fair share.

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