Farmers have always put food on the table for Australians and clothes on our back.
But right now, decisions are being made in Canberra that will make it harder to do. They’re taking away the water, land and workers we need to grow your food and fibre.
- Over the past 30 years, Australia has lost over 15% of its farmland.
- 9 out of 10 farmers are struggling to find workers.
- Plans to remove water from farmers could reduce farm production by $9 billion.
Issues
The Murray Darling Basin Plan has achieved staggering improvements in the health of our river system, with additional water flowing through the system enough to fill Sydney Harbour almost 5 times over each year.
Yet the Federal Government is trying to push through controversial legislation to tear up a deal developed by experts and in partnership with local communities.
The Government’s proposed legislation would enable water buybacks from farmers, which will reduce food and fibre production and impact rural communities.
There are smarter ways to achieve better environmental outcomes by directly investing in the health of our wetlands and aquatic ecosystems.
These proven pathways, developed by experts and people with first-hand knowledge of the river, are being ignored in favour of an easy political win. Rather than working with local knowledge-holders, they’re trying to bulldoze through a plan that will shut down farms, destroy jobs and increase the price of food.
We’re urging Parliamentarians to prevent passage of the Water (Restoring our Rivers) Bill and retain existing limits on water buybacks.
Despite a growing population to feed in Australia and overseas, the amount of land available for food production is diminishing as farmers face fierce competition from urban sprawl, mining and energy developments, transmission lines and carbon offsets.
Alarmingly, over the past 30 years, Australia has lost over 15% of its farmland.
Over the next 30 years, we can’t afford to lose another 15% if we’re to feed a growing population here and abroad in a changing climate.
Farmers depend on the land for the livelihoods and know how to preserve it.
They’re on the frontline of the fight to protect productive farmland for everyone’s future, and they need your help.
We’re calling for three vital changes:
- A mandatory code of conduct for transmission projects.
- Balanced reform of the EPBC Act to maintain productive land use.
- Consideration of the impact of the climate and energy transition, including offsets, on agricultural land.
Australia has one of the most consolidated food supply chains on the planet. This puts farmers – largely small, family run businesses – at a competitive disadvantage when trying to negotiate a fair return.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced in August 2023 that a Competition Taskforce would be formed to review competition policy.
We’re calling for reform of Australia’s competition laws to protect farmers from unfair practices, limit market consolidation and improve supply chain transparency.
We need a shakeup of Australia’s competition laws to secure a fairer deal for consumers and farmers. Too much power sits in the hands of big supermarkets, and a few other processors and companies along the supply chain.
It means small family-run farms are at the mercy of Australia’s largest corporate behemoths. Farmers receive a fraction of what consumers pay at the checkout, and who pockets that money in the middle is hidden from view.
It means consumers pay more – and farmers get short-changed.
Australia currently faces a shortfall of over 172,000 workers across the food supply chain.
This crisis in our workforce is reducing the amount of food we grow and process here in Australia, with farmers choosing not to plant crops, and processors unable to keep up with demand.
Like every advanced economy, Australia relies on visiting workers to meet these gaps.
However, the government is slashing visa pathways for people to live and work in regional Australia.
At the same time, they’re proposing complex new workplace laws – making it harder for small family businesses to put on staff.
We need purpose-built solutions to address the farm workforce crisis, and provide farmers with the help they need to put food on the shelves.
We’re calling for two essential changes:
- A dedicated visa pathway for agricultural workers.
- A rethink of the IR reform agenda to avoid additional cost and complexity.
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Currently, the government is planning to repeat the mistake of Julia Gillard’s 2011 live export ban – this time banning supply of sheep to the Middle East.
This move will damage our trading relationships and Australia’s standing as a reliable food security partner. It will also mean economic devastation, jeopardising the survival of the $1 billion merino wool industry in WA.
Importantly, it will represent a significant backward step in animal welfare, as Australia makes way for competitors with no regulation of welfare practices.
Australia’s live export trade is the world’s best and most closely regulated.
Having embraced wide-ranging reform, it now exceeds science-based welfare targets and is unrecognisable from the industry which made headlines a decade ago.
Shutting down an industry that has gone above and beyond to meet community expectations is fundamentally bad policy and a terrifying precedent. It risks soiling Australia’s reputation as a trusted food security partner, and further testing our friendships in the Middle East.
We’re calling on the Government to reverse the policy to phase out live sheep exports by sea.
