Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank our member for Paterson for chairing the committee that actually wrote a report on Australia's food security, and for keeping ministers up to date on what was happening in her regional community over the weekend.

I think everybody in this place, in this building, understands the importance of ensuring our farmers can continue to produce our food and our fibre. We also understand that keeping our freight and supply chains moving is critical. As the government, we know that food production is critical for every community right across Australia and that we actually can produce about 2½ times the food we need. We also, of course, feed our close neighbours in the Indo-Pacific with our world-class agricultural products, and we need to be able to continue to do that, too. From day one of this conflict in the Middle East, we have been monitoring the potential impacts on our ag industry. Indeed, we're working day and night with our agricultural exporters to ensure the safe return of products that have been disrupted due to the conflict.

We also recognise how critical the supply of fuel and fertiliser is for agriculture and for our food security. That's why our government is working together with the farmers, the producers and industry—so that we can quickly respond to issues as they arise. We have been very clear, and I reiterate: the conflict in the Middle East is not a commercial opportunity. Indeed, we must all act in the national interest during this period of time, because we know that keeping our farmers farming is in the national interest.

As the Minister for Climate Change and Energy has indicated, our government did hold a roundtable today with the National Farmers' Federation, Fertiliser Australia, the Australian Institute of Petroleum and the Australian Trucking Association—all joining together because now, more than ever, collaboration really is critical. This builds on discussions that many of us have had over the last week with our broader sectors and industries. As the energy minister has also reiterated, we have more fuel now than at any time over the last 15 years. We know that fuel continues to arrive in the quantities and at the frequency that we need, with more shipments due within the week. It's also critical that our fuel industry continues to deliver a consistent supply across our economy, including to our regional communities.

We have heard some concerns today from people about some of those regional communities that have been impacted, as the minister for energy has indicated and other members have indicated. But we've also heard that many of the input products for the upcoming planting season, including the majority of the fertiliser required, are already on the water or already in the country. Farmers are rightly looking ahead, and they are planning. We understand the importance of fuel and fertiliser to a productive food system, which is why we're also making sure we've got supply-chain resilience as a key priority of our national food security strategy. This strategy will help safeguard Australia into the future. On this side of the House, we'll continue to stand with our farmers.

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