Tony Mahar warns on finite nature of good ag land as development soars

A key player in the energy transition has warned that without adequate planning, developments could swallow up good farm land.

Tony Mahar, New Energy Infrastructure Commissioner at the Global Food Forum. Photo: The Australian/ luis Enrique Ascui

Australia’s newly appointed energy infrastructure commissioner has warned against removing or restricting production on prime agricultural land.

Speaking at The Australian’s Global Food Forum in Melbourne last week, Tony Mahar, the former National Farmers’ Federation chief executive, said that while Australia had some of the best farmland in the world, it should not be taken for granted.

He also noted that rural communities remained divided over new energy developments, with ongoing tensions around their impact on agriculture and regional livelhoods.

Mr Mahar said “regional communities feel like they are having this energy transition done to them, rather than done with them”.

“We have a lot of good farmland but there will be a point, if we don’t start mapping and prioritising it, then at some time in the future we’ll say ‘what happened to all that really good land we had’ - it is covered, or its take up, or its not as good as it used to be,” he said.

“We have got to get better at planning.

“We have also got to get better at things like sharing community benefit, community value.”

Speaking to The Weekly Times, Mr Mahar called for a “nationally co-ordinated approach” to energy developments on farmland – one that recognises jurisdiction and is led by the federal government.

“We also need to do better in explaining the how and the why of the energy transition, who will benefit and the long-term impacts,” Mr Mahar said.

“The energy transition isn’t stopping, it has been happening for a couple of decades and it will continue to happen.”

Mr Mahar said a nationally co-ordinated approach was needed on aspects such as community benefit sharing, engagement and neighbour payments. “I think we are going down that path, but it is not as clear as it needs to be,” he said.

“The infrastructure (locations) is being driven by the Renewal Energy Zones, and they are in varying degrees of certainty in various states.”

Meanwhile, Australian Farm Institute chair Alexandra Gartmann told the forum land use planning was something the nation “would absolutely have to think about” much more, with stronger policy framework around food, fibre, fuel and energy production.

“And, how can we actually make those mix,” she said.

“There is real conflict between; are we valuing food production and are we valuing energy production.”

Ms Gartmann pushed back against the idea that energy developments and farming can co-exist, arguing that this perspective did not align with the reality in rural communities.

“We are not seeing that at the moment, there is a lot of anxiety, emotion and conflict.”

Meanwhile, David Williams, managing director of corporate advisory and investment banking firm Kidder Williams, said there was a “much bigger picture”. He questioned whether Australia should be investing more in gas and uranium as part of its energy strategy.

Although actively involved in advising new energy investments, Mr Williams said Australia needed to relook at its energy plan. “We should probably be one or two of the top gas producers in the world... I’m keen to look at uranium (too).”