Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

The agriculture sector is a significant contributor to the national economy. In 2020-21 the gross value topped $70 billion, increasing by seven per cent in the last 20 years in real terms adjusted for consumer price inflation. This equates to a long-term GDP contribution of between three and four per cent. In 2019, ACIL Allen consulting prepared an agricultural road map for the sector to achieve a farmgate value of $100 billion by 2030. Yet, despite the enormous economic and employment contributions by the sector to our nation, we do very little to protect it or nurture it compared to the other 37 member countries of the OECD. Australia's support for the agricultural sector, as a share of gross farm receipts, is a mere 2.5 per cent, compared to 15.1 per cent, which is the average for the OECD nations. This low level of support was driven by Australia's National Competition Policy and procompetitive reforms to meet our obligations to the WTO.

Our agriculture sector does not ask for handouts, but it does rightly ask for a level playing field. While we have limited ability to influence our OECD neighbours regarding their agricultural support, we can and must influence our domestic arrangements, which in many instances are unfair. Australia's food and grocery sector is a duopoly, as the member for Kennedy said. Just two major supermarket chains cover about 75 per cent of the market. Suppliers have to be on the shelves of both the major chains in order to operate at scale. The majors know this, and they deliberately squeeze the best deal. Farmers are price takers; they are not price makers. Suppliers are at the mercy of retailers, and each year billions of dollars worth of fruit and vegetables are sent to landfill because the retail sector deems them too ugly for sale, even though they're all good food. They may just have a mark on them.

There are so many examples where producers can't even afford to pick their produce because the cost is so great. While we're talking about labour costs, I note that we've just signed a UK-Australia trade deal that's taken backpackers off our farms, and we're potentially going to do that again with the EU. This is a nightmare for regional Australia.

The adage, 'With great power comes great responsibility,' is certainly appropriate for our supermarket segment. The market power of the major chains is so pronounced and influential that, in the absence of reasonableness, government intervention should be considered. I'd just like to draw to the attention of other members a very good book—it's a few years old now but still is relevant today—called Supermarket Monsters. It talks about that duopoly and gives many examples. If you have the time over Christmas, have a read of it.

I've also got to say that it doesn't help when our city-centric living has divorced us from connection with the land and those who work on it. We have children in our community—in fact, we have adults in our community—who struggle to identify where milk comes from this. For clarity, it's not a carton from Woolworths. I support the member for Kennedy's motion to improve transparency on food and manufacturing labelling to eradicate hidden imports and to introduce fresh produce labelling that provides consumers with a better understanding of the actual gate price. Can I say to every member in here and, in fact, anyone who's listening to this on the radio or perhaps taking the time to read Hansard: put the effort in. If you can, buy from the farm gate or from farmers markets. I'm really fortunate. I live in regional Australia. I can pretty much do all of my food shopping within a few country roads from me. But can I say: when you see a farmer out and about, thank the farmer. I am deeply worried that in a generation's time, we will not have local dairy farms anymore; we'll just have agribusiness. We won't have mum-and-dad farmers. We need to do more in this nation to support agriculture, particularly mum-and-dad farming. I thank the member for Kennedy for this motion.

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