Address to the Australian Farm Institute Agrifood Strategy Roundtable, Canberra

17 October 2023

CANBERRA
TUESDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2023
***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

INTRODUCTION

I’m delighted to be here with you this morning and I pay tribute to the work of the Australian Farm Institute, who have arranged today’s event.

The AFI plays a really important role in promoting ideas and discussion about the future of agriculture and rural and regional Australia.

Today is no exception, with some excellent speakers lined up to discuss how we take our agriculture industry beyond the sector’s $100 billion goal.

The fact that, on the back of recent good seasons, the sector has already come close to reaching that goal is a testament to the hard work of the people in this room, along with that of Australia’s farmers, farm workers and all in the ag supply chain.

The truth is that Australia’s agriculture industry is world class and something we should all be proud of.

Australia is well known for supplying some of the highest quality food and fibre to the world.

But there is always more we can do to lift our productivity, expand market access and grow more sustainably, contributing to our national economy and meeting the food security needs of our own population and the world’s.

Today’s roundtable has a worthy goal – to discuss how we can better connect Australia’s agrifood strategies, through stronger collaboration.

That’s something I and our government have been really focussed on, since taking office less than 18 months ago.

This morning, I want to share with you what we’ve been doing, by working collaboratively with other levels of government, industry and the broader community, to bring together ideas that will help the Aussie ag sector reach its lofty goals.

I’ll briefly mention some of the collaboration we’ve undertaken on three of my key priorities – biosecurity, workforce and trade, before speaking in a bit more depth about my fourth major priority, sustainability.

BIOSECURITY

Almost from our first day in office, the Albanese Government has taken decisive steps to protect our agriculture sector from growing biosecurity threats.

And we haven’t just taken them unilaterally. Collaboration with states, territories and industry has been central to our response, from the very beginning.

Strong measures on foot and mouth and lumpy skin disease to protect the livestock industry.

Establishing an Exotic Animal Disease Preparedness Taskforce.

The first ever National Biosecurity Strategy and National Agriculture Traceability Strategy.

Strengthening our Northern Australia biosecurity surveillance networks.

Delivering – for the first time – long-term, sustainable biosecurity funding at the national level.

And most recently, reopening live cattle exports to Indonesia, following concerns about lumpy skin disease.

All of these actions have taken place through partnerships with States, Territories, industry, the broader community and our overseas neighbours.

Bringing together strategies and ideas that had previously been separate and disconnected.

WORKFORCE

Similarly, when it comes to assisting the ag sector with its workforce challenges, we’ve fostered collaboration – between different groups who have traditionally been foes, and between different agencies in government.

This approach is helping Australia’s agriculture industry access the workers it needs, while ensuring protections for workers are stronger than ever.

Just over a year ago we held the Jobs and Skills Summit, which brought Australians together to work constructively on the challenges and opportunities facing the Australian labour market and economy.

From that we formed the tripartite Agricultural Workforce Working Group, which brought government, employer groups and unions together to find ways to attract, skill, protect and retain workers in agriculture and processing.

And we put together Skills Insight, the Agribusiness Jobs and Skills Council, which will help to tackle the sector’s critical current and future skills and workforce challenges.

While the challenges aren’t totally solved and differences remain on some topics, this collaborative approach has achieved a lot – for the agriculture supply chain and its workers

Things like:

Funding over 13,000 Fee-Free TAFE places for agriculture courses, to train locals for careers in the industry;
Agreeing on the principles that should underpin national labour hire licensing, to give workers greater protection against exploitation;
Successfully advocating for a national Food Supply Chain Capacity Study, and the development of a new Ag Trade Apprenticeship; and
Delivering a record number of farm and meat processing workers under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility program.

Importantly, we’ve brought different Ministers and agencies into this process, to connect various government strategies and programs and ensure they deliver for agriculture.

From the ones I’ve mentioned to key government plans, like the Employment White Paper and the new strategy to fix our broken migration system.

TRADE

Similarly with trade, we are working in partnership with industry, to deliver the best outcomes for agriculture.

Something that really matters, when you consider Australia exports around 70% of our agricultural production.

By working together across government and with industry partners, we’ve been able to open important new markets, like the United Kingdom and India.

My recent trade mission to India, where I was accompanied by around 10 agriculture sector leaders, demonstrated a united front in this rapidly growing market.

Just last week, Trade Minister Don Farrell, Assistant Minister Tim Ayres and I met with several farm leaders, to discuss Australia’s position on the EU Free Trade Agreement.

We’ve ensured that food and agriculture is one of ten sectors highlighted for action in the government’s new, joined up South East Asia Economic Strategy.

And, working with industry, we’ve begun stabilising our relationship with our largest agricultural trading partner, with China removing trade impediments on our exports of barley, timber, horticulture, cotton and, most recently, hay. Something worth well over $1 billion per year to Australian producers.

SUSTAINABILITY

Finally, this idea of collaboration is central to our goals on my fourth key priority – lifting the sustainability of Australian agriculture, as it adapts to climate change.

It’s often said that our farmers are inherently environmentalists, given the connection between their livelihoods and their land management practices.

That has never been truer, with a growing understanding among our farmers that not just their own livelihoods, but their long-term succession plans are increasingly dependent on even more sustainable farming practices.

I’ve said before that we have an incredible window of opportunity, now that we have a government that matches our ag sector’s own ambition on climate adaptation and sustainability.

An opportunity to build on what the sector has already achieved, in the absence of government policy over the last decade.

I don’t intend to waste that opportunity, in fact I think we can do much better.

And the truth is, we must.

In 2020-21, agriculture produced 16.8% of Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions. As our energy sector decarbonises, without further action, agriculture’s share of our national emissions is likely to increase, not fall.

A warming world is a real threat to Australian agriculture, increasing the number and severity of natural hazards, such as drought, flooding, fires and disease outbreaks, which pose significant risks to the profitability and sustainability of the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sector.

ABARES modelling shows that changing seasonal conditions (2001-2020) have reduced the profitability of Australian farms by an average of 23%, or around $29,200 per farm between 2001 and 2020.

Fear of approaching drought is one factor contributing to the big fall we’ve been seeing in livestock prices.

So addressing the physical and transitional risks of climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the agriculture sector, but importantly it is also an opportunity for us.

By adapting to climate change, we can lift the sector’s productivity, reduce input costs and maintain and open new markets that demand ever more sustainable production.

That’s why building the sustainability of Australian agriculture is a core priority of the Albanese Government.

That’s why, for example, we have committed more than $302 million through the Natural Heritage Trust to create the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program.

The Natural Heritage Trust is the government’s key investment platform for achieving its natural resource management, sustainable agriculture and environment protection outcomes.

This morning I can announce the specifics of how that funding will be rolled out on the ground.

Programs to improve soil quality, investments in practical on the ground projects and a new network of facilitators to help farmers improve sustainability on their properties are just some of the programs set to rollout across the country.

This program draws from the strengths of past Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) investment and brings a heightened focus on the contemporary challenges our farmers are facing.

Chief among them is the challenge of adapting to climate change and the new phase of the NHT will have a stronger focus on climate adaptation than before.

This Climate-Smart Agriculture Program also continues the enduring investment into sustainability and natural resource management.

The Climate-Smart Agriculture Program is being delivered through a series of integrated investment streams over 5 years including:

$45 million for Partnerships and Innovation grants
$15 million for Capacity Building grants
$36 million in soil measures
$35.7 million towards operational capacity of Regional Delivery Partners and national Landcare organisations
$85.6 million towards on-ground sustainable agriculture and natural resource management projects led by our Regional Delivery Partners
$40.7 million for a network of Sustainable Agriculture Facilitators.

Together, this integrated suite of investment represents a clear-sighted and comprehensive response to what we have heard through consultation with agriculture stakeholders up to now.

It positions farmers and landholders to adapt to the emerging and anticipated challenges of climate change, embrace sustainable agriculture practices and develop their sustainability credentials.

While the NHT is our largest investment platform in Climate Smart Agriculture, it’s not our only one.

Whether it be the Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework, the Future Drought Fund, the National Soils Action Plan, the nature repair market, the work of our RDCs, or the Methane Emissions Reduction in Livestock program, we’re doing a lot in the sustainable agriculture space.

But if I’m being honest, it’s not well tied together. And that’s before we get to the many important actions taking place in other levels of government, or in industry.

To borrow from this roundtable’s theme, it needs to be better connected.

We’ve begun fixing that, by reaching agreement with State and Territory Agriculture Ministers on Australia’s first National Statement on Climate Change and Agriculture.

This document represents an important shared commitment by agriculture ministers to work in partnership with the sector and ensures Australia continues to lead the world in climate-smart practices.

What we now want to do is take that work further, at the Federal level, by developing Australia’s first ever Agriculture and Land Sector Plan, to help deliver our national commitment to build a net zero emission economy by 2050.

Because as a large emitter – and a huge potential source of carbon sequestration – agriculture is central to this goal.

The plan is in its early stages of development. Some of you may have already been consulted and there will be many opportunities to follow.

We know that there is no one solution for agriculture to reduce its emissions, and that it will be a sum of many parts in achieving our goal.

But we also know that having an integrated plan really matters, and we also have some thoughts on the key principles that should underpin this plan:

That it should, where possible, lift farm productivity and profitability, not diminish it.
That it should assist Australian producers become even more globally competitive and position Australian agriculture as a world leader in sustainable production.
That it should seize agriculture’s carbon storage opportunities, in a way that delivers environmental co-benefits.
That it should examine the full gamut of emissions reductions opportunities, from inputs like energy and fertiliser, to livestock efficiency, to improvements in land management.
And importantly, that it should be co-designed with industry.

Because we don’t go into this with fixed ideas. We want to work with industry, community and governments to develop this plan. To connect a range of strategies – inside and outside government – to deliver it.

The fact is that industry has already taken massive steps in achieving a more sustainable future.

I’ve seen firsthand the huge potential for new methane reducing technologies including asparagopsis and bovaer.

I’ve been briefed on the how improving livestock management practices, including better genetics, can reduce emissions.

I’ve learned about the potential for the production of coated fertilisers to reduce nitrogen emissions.

I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact precision agriculture can have on country and am aware of the massive benefits this could have with greater uptake.

And I think we are all aware of how improved biodiversity and natural capital recognition can improve soil condition and overall health of our environment.

These are just some examples of what’s been happening over the last decade – in the absence of Federal Government policy.

Imagine what we can do, now we have a government that believes in the science and is ready to match industry’s own climate ambitions.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I really commend the AFI for bringing people together today, for a discussion on how we can better connect the many strategies that exist in the ag sector, to deliver on its goals.

You can see that this idea of collaboration and connectedness has been a key focus of mine, as we work with different federal agencies, state and territory governments, industry and the broader community to achieve our priorities.

It’s by connecting and collaborating that we’ll achieve the industry’s goal of $100 billion by 2030. And then go beyond it.

I encourage you all to continue striving to improve, so that we become more productive, profitable and sustainable for generations to come.

Thank you all for your time, I look forward to continuing to work with you, as together we pursue that goal.