Federal election 2022: What a Labor Government means for agriculture

From live exports to the ag visa, climate change and forestry. Here’s what a Labor government means for the agriculture industry.

Labor is close to gaining the magic 76 seat majority it needs to govern the nation in its own right.

The Australian Electoral Commission’s latest update has Labor holding 75 seats, with teal and other independents gaining 10 and Coalition on 55 with two in doubt.

The incoming Albanese Government will now have to deal with the Greens, who are set to gain the balance of power in the Senate and are demanding bans on all live exports, cutbacks in Australia’s $8 billion of fuel tax credit scheme and the stripping of 450 gigalitres of water from irrigation communities for the environment.

So far Labor has refused to detail whether it will wade into water markets to drian the 450GL from the Murray Darling’s community of 2.2 million, or outline how its stripped-back agriculture visa will solve agriculture’s labor shortage.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his team have already promised to phase out live sheep exports, but with no end date, creating enormous uncertainty.

Labor has also promised to spend big on regional and rural telecommunications upgrades, to bolster the nation’s biosecurity capability and bolster competition laws with improved protections for farmers.

National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson has congratulated the incoming Labor government, but said the peak farming body wouldn’t be wasting any time communicating some of its “concerning” policies.

“Water, the ag visa and live exports are big issues,” Ms Simson said. “We look forward to talking to the incoming government and making sure they fully understand the science and the way the industry operates. We’re concerned some of these policies are old policies they’ve dusted off without understanding the current operating environment and science.”

Grain Growers chair Brett Hosking said his industry was excited to continue to build on its relationship with Julie Collins, who is expected to retain the agriculture portfolio.

“We’re really keen to chat to Julie and her team, firstly to work on a market study to ensure we have an efficient trading landscape,” he said.

Australian Fresh Produce Alliance chief executive Michael Rogers said the importance of developing a productive and returning workforce for the horticulture industry would be stressed to the new Labor government.

“We welcome the opportunity to work with the new Albanese government on implementing the Ag Visa with Vietnam and other ASEAN partners to complement the PALM scheme,” Mr Rogers said.

AGRICULTURAL VISA

Farming groups have expressed concern about the viability of their industries if Labor pushes ahead with an ag visa that is open only to Pacific nations.

Labor promised it would deliver an agriculture visa that would build on existing PALM scheme visas, rather than pushing ahead with the Coalition’s Australia Agriculture Visa that is open to 10 countries, mostly in South-East Asia.

Labor’s visa would include incentives for those workers to bring their families to live permanently in Australia.

The scheme has been critisiced by the National Farmers’ Federation, which says the net should be cast wider to attract more workers, however NFF is supportive of Labor’s promise to foot the bill for workers’ upfront travel costs.

Many horticulture farmers were banking on the success of the ag visa to fill a huge void left by backpackers who are yet to return to Australia and are unlikely to, given changes made to the working holiday-maker visa to engage in farm work. Previously WHM visa holders had to spend a year in regional Australia working on a farm to secure a second- and third-year visa.

MURRAY DARLING BASIN

The basin’s 2.2 million water users have been left in the dark since Federal Labor promised to deliver an extra 450 gigalitres towards the Murray Darling Basin’s environmental flows, without detailing how.

Irrigators fear Labor Leader Anthony Albanese and his team will simply raid the water market to recover the 450GL, in a bid to meet the June 2024 deadline on its delivery, pushing up prices and draining Basin communities of their wealth and jobs.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority’s progress report shows 520GL of the 802GL it has recovered from Victoria to date mainly came from the buyouts of former Labor Federal Governments dating back to 2008.

Labor has refused to detail how it will recover the extra 450GL, with a spokesman stating “we’re not ruling out (using) any tools to uphold the Murray Darling Basin Plan”.

National Irrigators Council chairman Jeremy Morton said he hoped Labor would take a pragmatic approach to water recovery, without damaging productivity.

But Mr Mortimer admitted trying to recover 450GL by June 2024 would be “extremely difficult”.

LIVE EXPORTS

Labor said it would “phase out” live sheep exports in consultation with industry, but said it had no plans to change live export of cattle.

The closure of the live sheep trade was a policy it took to the 2019 election.

A timeline for the shut down of the lucrative industry has been left out of any discussions so far, leaving many farmers in the lurch.

Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton said the industry was committed to working closely with the incoming Labor Government and would point to the terrific results the live sheep industry had achieved in the past three years.

“Their policy to phase out live sheep exports remains unnecessary … we’ll be working closely with supporters of the trade so there’s a sustainable industry going forward,” he said, adding the support of West Australian Premier Mark McGowan was a positive step.

NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION FUND

Federal Labor has promised to spend $500m from its $15b National Reconstruction Fund specifically on agriculture to help diversify the sector, open new possibilities for trade and create more jobs and economic activity in the regions.

The fund will also be available to regional businesses such as food manufacturers to help them adopt new technologies, and to support investment in strengthening Australia’s national supply chains.

COMPETITION LAWS

Federal Labor has vowed to improve protections for farmers against unfair contract terms with meaningful protection, safeguarding small business, contractors and smaller scale suppliers from exploitation.

Labor will outlaw unfair contract terms to protect businesses with fewer than 100 employees and turnover of less than $10m; a reform the farming sector has been calling for.

Once unfair contracts are illegal, the competition watchdog will be able to issue civil penalties to those who use them.

The party also supports the right to repair measures for farming equipment.

CLIMATE CHANGE

The Labor Party has committed to reduce emissions by 43 per cent – from 2005 levels – by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050.

A Labor Government will redirect some unspent money from the Emissions Reduction Fund to grants that enable industry decarbonisation, while $3b from the $15b National Reconstruction Fund would be earmarked for commercial emissions reduction, including livestock feed additives.

DISASTER READY FUND

The impact of devastating natural disasters, including bushfires, floors and cyclones, will be cushioned by Labor’s Disaster Ready Fund.

The fund will invest $200m annually on disaster prevention and resilience projects including flood levees, sea walls, cyclone shelters, fire breaks, evacuation centres and telecommunications improvements.

The Fund will replace the Coalition’s $4b Emergency Response Fund, of which barely a cent has been spent.

BIOSECURITY

Labor has committed to long-term, sustainable funding to strengthen Australia’s biosecurity system. The party pledged to improve biosecurity capabilities including addressing the potential impact of lumpy skin disease, supporting the adoption of livestock traceability reforms and reducing the impact of pests and weeds.

The number of Indigenous Rangers will be doubled and the nation’s biosecurity system across mail centres and airports will be strengthened, in part with the addition of 20 biosecurity detector dogs and 10 additional biosecurity detector dog handlers.

FORESTRY

Almost $220m will be provided to expand the work of the National Institute for Forest Products and Innovation, continue the rollout of Regional Forestry Hubs to work with industry and state and local governments, and for grants targeted at better utilisation of logs and fibre, value adding and supporting the industry to continue to reduce its carbon footprint.

Labor will also provide $86.2m for the establishment of new plantations to secure future wood supply and $4.4m towards Australia’s illegal logging traceability and timber identification systems.

And the forestry sector can expect a share of investment through the $500m for agriculture, forestry and fisheries under the National Reconstruction Fund. Labor has reiterated its policy of removing the water rule in relation to the Emissions Reduction Fund and carbon farming, helping to encourage growth in the plantation resource across the country.