Border restrictions: NSW Farmers call for national agriculture permit ahead of National Cabinet
NSW Farmers says a uniform approach is needed to shield agriculture’s supply chain from strict border shutdowns, ahead of a National Cabinet meeting.
A SINGLE, national agriculture permit should be made available to farmers and ag workers if Australia wants to avoid crippling the food supply chain, NSW Farmers says.
The farming lobby is urging state premiers to work together on border restrictions at tomorrow’s National Cabinet meeting, saying a uniform approach is needed to keep the sector moving – and Australians fed.
“We’re not advocating throwing an Akubra on the seat and getting waved through the border,” NSW Farmers president James Jackson said.
“We’re talking a bespoke permit agriculture permit that allows movement, but with caveats around it.
“It has to be national – the flow of labour and machinery and contractors is national, so National Cabinet would be the suitable forum to sort it out.”
Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke backed the idea of a single permit, as long as it was practical.
The ag industry has been warning that harsh – and inconsistent – interstate border closures are hampering the movement of contractors, putting the upcoming grains and horticulture harvests at risk, which as well as preventing farmers, vets and agronomists from doing vital work over state lines.
NSW this week introduced an agriculture permit allowing Victorians to enter NSW up to a 100km limit, following reports of farmers being unable to access interstate properties and seasonal workers shut-out from their jobs – but similar issues at the NSW-Queensland border have yet to be addressed.
Meanwhile, a near-total shutdown of the Victorian-SA border comes into force from Friday, leaving many farmers without staff or access to supplies.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier this week wrote to all state premiers calling on them to urgently act and ensure border restrictions did not “unnecessarily or unintentionally” impede essential agricultural services.
“We need to ensure relevant exemptions to border restrictions are in place and applied consistently and efficiently,” Mr Morrison wrote.
Mr Jackson said food shortages were unlikely, but food supply chains would be affected if the issues weren’t sorted out soon.
“There’s certainly potential for pinching supply in certain commodities, and that could mean higher prices,” he said.
“We understand the importance of biosecurity and having a risk-based approach, however we think agriculture is largely low-risk and we can design some protocols to minimise that risk.”
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said tomorrow’s cabinet meeting would be a “flashpoint” for the federation, warning the states risked becoming irrelevant if they couldn’t come to a resolution.
“Announcements made in recent days to fix cross-border issues have not been developed in proper partnership with regional communities and don’t seem to be genuine in rectifying the serious impacts on many families, workers and industries,” Mr Littleproud said.
“The inability or unwillingness of our premiers to work with each other to find commonsense and practical solutions to restrictions that they have imposed is becoming a major test of their leadership.”
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