"The Nationals will fight tooth and nail against these tax hikes,” she said.

A decision by the Rudd Government to massively increase the tax on food exports will put thousands of regional jobs under severe threat, according to Nationals Senator Fiona Nash.

"The Rudd Government has decided that from July 1, food exporters will have to pay the full cost of Australian Quarantine inspections,” Senator Nash said.

“Under rules set by the previous Coalition Government, food export industries paid 60 per cent of inspection fees.

"Under Labor, they will now have to pay the full 100 per cent – charges which their overseas competitors do not have to pay.

“In addition, Labor is set to increase the fees, in some cases by more than 1000 per cent.

“This threatens the viability of all fresh food export industries across regional NSW – and that means more Rudd job losses,” Senator Nash said.

“The beef industry alone employs the same number of people (50,000) as does the car industry, and earns Australia three times as much in exports.”

“Yet, while the city based car industry gets $6.2 billion in Rudd handouts, the region-based beef industry gets slugged with a new tax equivalent to $5 a head.

“Other industries to be adversely affected include seafood exporters along the coast and fruit, vegetable and flower growers across the state,

“For example, Macadamia growers export 70 per cent of their $100 million annual crop.

"Prices have dropped by half in the last two years, so the last thing they need is a Labor tax slug.”