Biosecurity named top threat to food security as national council meets
Australia's peak agricultural bodies have warned of critical vulnerabilities in the nation's food security as the new National Food Council reviews more than 400 industry submissions.
Australia’s peak agricultural bodies have highlighted biosecurity and the fragility of critical imported inputs in their submissions to the government’s new national food security strategy, as the National Food Council meets for the first time on Monday.
Designed to advise Agriculture Minister Julie Collins on the development of the nation’s new food security strategy, the council will meet in Canberra to review more than 400 industry and individual submissions to the strategy and identify priority areas for consultation.
Among the submissions, Cattle Australia identified biosecurity “as the most important aspect of Australia’s” food security, and said it should be elevated as its own key priority under the new strategy, while the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance said Australia’s biosecurity system should be embedded as a “national public good”.
GrainGrowers recommended accelerating the production of biofuels, saying Australia’s production system was built on “fragile foundations”, pointing to 91 per cent of Australia’s liquid fuel being imported, and no domestic urea supply until at least 2027.
It also wants $900m per year in targeted funding for key regional freight corridors.
The National Farmers’ Federation Horticulture Council called for the recommendations from the ACCC supermarket inquiry to be fully implemented, with the delivery of tangible improvements in the fairness of trade between supermarkets and suppliers the most critical outcome.
And Australian Dairy Farmers wants to be appointed to the 11-strong council, and the protection of the roughly 0.2 per cent of Australia’s land suitable for dairy farming.
Other themes identified across the submissions include nutritional security, producer productivity, supply chain resilience and market access, and ecological stewardship.
The council includes Crawford Fund for Food Security chair Su McCluskey, Grain Trade Australia chief executive Pat O’Shannassy, Bega executive chairman Barry Irvin and Australian Fresh Produce Alliance chief executive Claire McClelland.
“Feeding Australia, guided by the advice from our National Food Council, will enable us (to) improve food security across our supply chains, no matter what the future brings,” Ms Collins said.
“That’s why today’s meeting is so critical – I look forward to working with the council as our government delivers on our promise to develop a new national food security strategy.”
