Mr Burke was in the sugar and horticulture region yesterday, having visited Beef 09 in Rockhampton on Wednesday.

In a show of bi-partisan party cooperation, the Nationals’ Paul Neville, Member for Hinkler, gave Mr Burke a tour of the region’s farming operations including a visit to sugarcane mulch producer Australian Prime Fibre at Cordalba, and food processor Austchilli at Bundaberg.

When addressing the local media, Mr Burke said while agriculture remained one of the good news stories within the economic downturn, he would not pre-empt any budget announcements regarding agriculture.

"It’s going to be a very tough budget.

"You can’t have a global recession without Australia’s budget being affected," Mr Burke said.

"Anybody asking for bucket loads of money for a particular portfolio is not going to see it."

Earlier this week Government sources revealed to Farmonline that major cutbacks were expected for rural research corporations, with forecasts the deficit announced next Tuesday night could be as big as $68 billion – compared to a the $22.3 billion predicted last year.

The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) is among the expected budget victims with suggestions its funding could be slashed by about $3 million.

When asked about whether the Federal Government was involved in assisting floundering managed investment corporation Timbercorp, which owns significant citrus and avocado plantations in the Bundaberg area, Mr Burke said it was a complex structure that the company itself was still sifting through.

"I have briefings going directly to my staff on that issue," he said.

Mr Burke also spoke with farming group representatives about the Reef Rescue Package and the results being seen from that.

He said some of the main issues raised by farmers have been accessing international markets, current farm gate prices, and the rise in the value of the Australian dollar.

"But growers in this region are resilient, and history has shown that," he said.

"People will put off purchasing things but they won’t put off buying food."

Mr Burke took the opportunity to pay tribute to Mr Neville for his commitment to his electorate saying the Nationals member had requested he visit the region on numerous occasions.