David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great honour to stand here today after what is another record budget for agriculture. This is the environment that we are putting around Australian agriculture despite all the headwinds that we have faced over the last 18 months, whether they be drought, fires, floods, cyclones or even COVID-19. ABARES estimated agriculture would hit $60 billion at the end of this financial year, and only yesterday they finalised that number to be $66.3 billion. That's an outstanding result. Of that, $47 billion is exports, and ABARES are estimating that next year those exports will get to just under $50 billion, but that was before we signed the free trade agreement with the UK 24 hours ago. So I'm confident that we will crack the $50 bill with a little bit of rain.

Our job in supporting agriculture's ambitious goal $100 billion by 2030 is simply putting the environment and infrastructure around it, and that's why we've created the Ag2030 plan. Seven pillars are backed by money, money not only put out in this May budget but also committed in the October budget. We committed over $400 million in that budget, and now another $850 million has been committed to support the seven pillars of Australian agriculture's Ag2030 plan. That's around making sure we can continue to diversify markets. Yesterday we got an in-principle agreement for free trade agreement No. 15. That's an outstanding result that allows our exporters to send their product into new markets, so it's an exciting opportunity.

We're also making sure that we're investing in the infrastructure to make it easy to export—that is, in technology; in streamlining; in digitising platforms, with a significant investment of over $300 million into digitising that platform we put in last year's budget, which is rolling out now; and in having more boots on the ground across the globe to make sure that we can get better market access. Our agricultural council in the UK played a pivotal role in the achievement of that announcement yesterday.

It's also significantly about protecting brand Australia. There was a $400 million investment under the second pillar, which is biosecurity. This is understanding there's an evolution of threats and how we evolve not only the management of them but also the technology around them. There have been 79 new biosecurity officer jobs created on the front line, plus we've invested in more paws on the ground and, more importantly, 20 new scientists. That means we can identify diseases and pests that may be found here quicker so that we can have real-time action in addressing them. That's important.

We're also investing in technology. We're the first country to undertake 3D X-ray scanning for biosecurity threats to make sure that we identify those threats at ports and postal services. All 144 million parcels that go through Australia Post will now go through a 3D X-ray scanner, which we have created algorithms for, and artificial intelligence will be able to identify plant life, organic matter—even a live animal. New Zealand has signed up to that technology, and we hope to use it in airports as well very soon.

It's also about the third pillar, infrastructure. There will be an extra $1½ billion for roads right across the country to make sure we can get products from paddock to plate as quickly as we possibly can. We're also looking at manufacturing opportunities of going further through the supply chain with the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative. That also looks at some of the vulnerabilities in agricultural inputs. We need to understand, in a changing global environment, how to protect the agricultural inputs that are pivotal to Australian agriculture.

We're also looking at our innovation systems, understanding the important role they play. Each year, $1.1 billion goes into research and development. There are 15 research and development corporations, and we're now looking to get back to first principles in streamlining them and getting value for levy-payers and taxpayers. We're making sure that the research we're doing isn't duplicated, that we commercialise it, and that it's rolled out and extended to the farm gate. That's why we've invested in eight drought innovation hubs close to farmers, so they can get this research and technology—touch it, feel it, use it—in regional universities, not in big cities that are too far away for many of them.

Most importantly, we're investing in our people. There is a significant investment in reducing university costs to encourage young people to get into agriculture. In reducing those university costs by 59 per cent we've seen a 120 per cent increase in ag courses at the University of Queensland this year. The environmental infrastructure we're putting around Australian agriculture is important. It's driving growth and driving our economy.

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