To feed world, fix home paddock first

We need urgent government action in our own back paddock before we can help fix the world’s problems. Picture: Robert Klarich

Last week at a special session of the council of the OECD in Paris, Anthony Albanese told world leaders that Australia can “help feed the world”.

It was a genuine and meaningful offer from a country that punches well above its weight when it comes to feeding the world. It was said in the context of the Ukraine conflict, which is sparking a broadening crisis across the global food system.

However, since the Prime Minister had departed for Europe our ability to make good on that promise had been severely compromised.

Farms across the Sydney basin lie waterlogged for the third time this year. Farmers are facing a worsening cost spiral. And pests and diseases that threaten to decimate our sector have arrived on Australian and neighbouring shores.

We need urgent government action in our own back paddock before we can help fix the world’s problems.

First, we need to address Australia’s biosecurity. This week we’ve learned foot-and-mouth disease – a highly contagious virus with the power to devastate our livestock industries – has landed in Bali. Given the enormous tourist flows now returning to Bali, and the ability for the virus to travel on clothing and footwear, the risk of this reaching our shores is immense.

In addition to foot-and-mouth disease, we’re working with our partners in Indonesia to beat back an incursion of deadly lumpy skin disease in cattle, while here on Aussie soil we’ve seen the arrival of Varroa mite in NSW, which authorities are working tirelessly to contain.

We find ourselves in an uncharted threat environment, and our food system and our natural environment hang in the balance. The Albanese government inherited a system for funding biosecurity that is ad hoc and unsustainable. It’s an issue he has vowed to fix and, while recent announcements are welcome, a more comprehensive solution cannot come quickly enough.

Another cloud over our farm sector continues to be the workforce crisis. In the past week we’ve seen job vacancies hit nearly 500,000 across the economy – up 14 per cent in three months. Nowhere is this pain more profound than on our farms.

We know that visiting workers are an important part of the solution, and we need appropriate visa pathways to bring them in and keep them safe.

We can’t just kick Australia’s workforce crisis down the road to the government’s Jobs Summit. These shortages are placing existential pressure on farm businesses and putting jobs and food supply at risk.

Finally, costs for farmers are spiralling. Prices for energy, fuel and fertiliser have doubled in just 12 months, and costs for some inputs such as chemicals are up five-fold since Covid-19 took hold.

Farmers have limited power to pass these costs to the corporate titans that buy their products, meaning they’re left to survive on wafer-thin margins.

The Albanese government needs to get serious about reforming competition laws to level the playing field for farmers before more simply walk off the field.

Tackle these challenges, Prime Minister, and yes, Australian farmers stand a good chance at helping the world through a challenging period of food insecurity.

Our performance as a food exporter is a global contribution all Australians should be immensely proud of, but it is one we cannot simply take for granted.

Fiona Simson is president of the National Farmers Federation, the peak body for Australia’s farm sector.