Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm absolutely delighted to speak on this private members' motion put forward by the member for Kennedy, and I thank him for that. I want to speak on the good work and continued commitment of the Albanese government and the great successes that we've had in agriculture in this country. We aren't wasting a minute when it comes to supporting this industry, and that's why the House Standing Committee on Agriculture has decided to hold an inquiry on food security in Australia. Our committee is working closely with the minister to better listen and understand the needs of the agriculture industry and ensure that agricultural security remains a priority area for our government.

We understand Australia exports around 70 per cent of our agricultural production, and that's a good thing, but this has an important role to play in our economic prosperity. Equally, we want to ensure that we're supporting industry and encouraging every domestic opportunity available to producers. It has been said that Australia does not produce everything consumers like to eat, and imports account for around 11 per cent of food consumption by value. Some of these imports are largely motivated by consumer preferences that cannot be met by domestic production. I'm pleased that as part of our inquiry we'll explore strengthening and safeguarding food security in Australia. The committee will enquire and report on the national production, consumption and export of food, as well as considering access to key inputs such as fuel, fertiliser and labour and their impact on production costs.

Additionally, the committee will explore the impact of supply-chain distribution on the cost and availability of food and the potential opportunities and threats of climate change for food production in Australia. We can see by recent floods that it can have a very devastating effect indeed on food production. We understand that food security is a growing issue nationally and internationally, with population growth, war, weather and climate all posing risks to the availability and accessibility of food. Australia has a role to play globally for food production as well. We do have a responsibility to help the globe feed itself as well as our own country.

Our inquiry is taking submissions until 9 December this year and wants to hear from as many stakeholders as possible to ensure a broad contribution from the agricultural and food sectors. I'm very proud to be a product of the regions, and I welcome the Albanese Labor government's commitment to working with industry to explore opportunities to improve price and market transparency and ensure a fair marketplace to enhance the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the agricultural sector.

As suggested, government has provided approximately $4 million to the dairy, seafood, red meat, horticulture, wine and chicken meat industries to improve price and market transparency. These projects are critical to supporting supply chains and allocating resources more effectively and will ensure that we adapt production in a timely manner and implement appropriate risk management strategies.

I also want to acknowledge and commend Minister Murray Watt on his work since taking carriage of this important portfolio. One of our government's key achievements has been in progressing legislative amendments to strengthen protections for consumers and small businesses, including primary producers, by making unfair contract terms illegal. The legislation also provides a larger number of small businesses with protections due to changes in the eligibility thresholds. It would be a matter for the Treasurer to determine whether to consider legislation into a divestiture regime under the Competition and Consumer Act to apply to the food and grocery industry. We understand that there are risks associated with divestiture which would need to be examined to ensure any action would not undermine the viability of the retail sector, as this would have flow-on effects on agricultural industries and primary producers. Ours is a government that is committed to working with this sector on the challenges it faces and on all the problems that have been ignored for the past decade by those opposite. I look forward to continuing to work with industry and Minister Watt to progress meaningful reforms and investments for this incredibly important sector to Australia.

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