Bush Summit: Extra $1bn in Regional Investment Corporation low-interest loans for Aussie farmers
In a key win for the Bush Summit, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce new cash for a low-interest loan fund for farmers “doing it tough” grappling with severe drought and floods.
Farmers battling and preparing for drought and floods will have access to an extra $1bn in low-interest loans under Labor’s plan to expand support for the agriculture sector.
Anthony Albanese will announce the new funding and continuation of the Regional Investment Corporation (RIC) loan scheme at the 2025 Bush Summit in Ballarat, acknowledging farmers have been “doing it tough”.
“I have seen first-hand the toll that extreme weather events like drought take on regional communities,” he said.
“While we can always be proud that the worst of circumstances brings out the best in Australians, no community should ever have to stand alone.”
The Prime Minister said the loan scheme was about helping farmers to manage cost pressures and “free up cash flow so they can continue producing the products we all rely on”.
The RIC announcement is a major win for the Bush Summit, which has advocated for an extension on the scheme to support farmers currently grappling with severe drought, particularly in parts of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
The extra money brings the total amount of RIC loan funding to $5bn with Labor arguing the top up demonstrates the government’s “commitment” to the scheme beyond its current end date of June 30 next year.
Labor will also expand the scope of the loan scheme to include assistance for improving climate resilience, boosting productivity in the sector and “supporting agriculture to be part of Australia’s net zero transition”.
This means farmers will be able to apply for a concessional loan for things such as construction of levies, water pumps or other mitigation measures before they are actually impacted by a disaster like a flood or drought.
As part of the government’s response to South Australia’s algal bloom, a new loan product is also being developed for business and communities impacted by “slow onset significant ecological events”.
So far more than 3400 loans have been supported through the RIC, with more than $3.6bn in settled funds providing direct on-farm benefit.
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said that the government was committed to supporting farmers who were facing hardship.
“We are committing to concessional loans over the long-term to give farmers certainty that there will always be support available, including those impacted by drought,” she said.
Speaking at the Bush Summit on Friday, Mr Albanese will say Labor is committed to ensuring Australia’s “long-term agricultural productivity” and “food and fibre security”.
Mr Albanese will highlight the government’s efforts to fund states and territories to implement a soil plan and work with the National Farmers’ Federation to progress sustainability in agriculture.
“We are supporting emissions-reduction efforts in the agriculture and land sectors and providing funding to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Science to give the agricultural sector better access to climate, economic and market insights,” he will say.
Mr Albanese will also argue to build regional Australia’s future it must be “easier for younger generations to stay and build their lives in the communities they grew up in”.
“That is why Labor went to the election committed to building more homes and making it easier for young regional Australians to buy their first home,” he will say.
Mr Albanese will also flag government support for more Medicare Urgent Care clinics, expanding university hubs and a recent deal between NBN Co and Amazon to bring “quality broadband to the bush” as major priorities for the government.
Opposition’s ideas to bankroll ‘forgotten’ agriculture
Australia’s superannuation funds should invest more in the nation’s agricultural sector to unlock the potential of regional communities, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says.
Ms Ley will use her address to the National Bush Summit in Ballarat on Friday to call out how foreign investors bankroll Australian farming businesses while domestic super funds miss out because they regard the sector as too risky or too long term.
“Around the world, investors see the potential of Australian agriculture,” she will say.
“Canadian and American pension funds are pouring billions into our farmland and agribusinesses.
“Yet Australian superannuation funds, managing trillions of dollars, are reluctant to back our farms ... What a missed opportunity.
“If even a small fraction of our domestic super funds invested in agriculture, it would unlock enormous potential: irrigation upgrades, food processing facilities and regional infrastructure. Instead, it is often foreign retirees who own the benefits of our success.”
Ms Ley will also tell the Bush Summit the government has forgotten agriculture. She will argue that life outside capital cities was virtually ignored at last week’s economic roundtable in Canberra.
“Agriculture barely rated a mention, yet this is the sector that feeds us, clothes us, sustains our regions and earns billions in export dollars,” she will say.
The Coalition leader’s large southern NSW electorate of Farrer depends heavily on the farming sector and Ms Ley has worked on rural properties.
Ms Ley will laud Australian agriculture as a powerhouse of productivity, noting that in the 2023-24 financial year, agricultural multi-factor productivity rose 7.3 per cent.
“Our farmers are innovators,” she will say. They are entrepreneurs. They are exemplars in sustainability, resilience and efficiency.”
Ms Ley will also remind the sixth annual Bush Summit that regional businesses need affordable, reliable energy.
“If we want more food processing plants, more dairies, more grain mills and more cold storage in regional towns, then energy costs matter,” she will say.
“We need an energy policy that balances environmental responsibility with economic reality.”
— By Ian Royall
Disease control the focus of $15m round of grants
Victoria’s biosecurity measures will be beefed up by the Allan government in a bid to protect the state’s livestock.
Appearing at the Herald Sun’s Bush Summit in Ballarat on Friday, Premier Jacinta Allan will announce $15m worth of new grants for 22 projects to help prevent, monitor and control diseases in animals, including cattle, sheep, goats, swine and honey bees.
Newbie vets will be supported to undertake a year of working alongside beef and dairy farmers as part of a more than a $100,000 grant for Veterinary Support Services.
As part of the program, up to a dozen vets in regional clinics will be matched with at least two local producers.
Beekeepers will also be schooled on the biosecurity risks posed by the Varroa mite and a research program will be undertaken into healthy ironbark forests as part of a $205,000 grant to the Victorian Apiarists Association.
More than $1.6m will also be handed to the Victorian Farmers Federation to ensure owners and hobby farmers know how to keep their animals healthy in peri-urban areas through their Stock Sense program.
Agriculture Minister Ros Spence said it was vital for a range of Victorians, including farmers, beekeepers and hobby farm owners, to understand ever-changing biosecurity risks.
”Biosecurity risks are constantly changing and the Livestock Biosecurity Funds Grant Program helps industry get ahead of emerging challenges – safeguarding our livestock industries,” she said.
“FarmVet Connect will help early career vets jumpstart their on-farm understanding and knowledge, while getting the benefits of relationship building and collaboration from proven producers.”
The new grants come just months after three properties in Euroa were struck with bird flu, triggering a major shutdown of the poultry farms and warnings to neighbouring properties.
It followed serous outbreak in late 2024 which led to widespread bird culling, reducing the supply of eggs.
— By Carly Douglas
Originally published as Bush Summit: Extra $1bn in Regional Investment Corporation low-interest loans for Aussie farmers
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