Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

The world's population is growing, but the world's prime agricultural land is shrinking. Food security has never been more important, and it will increasingly be so.

This Bill is about something fundamental. It's about the land that feeds us, clothes us, and underpins our regional communities.

Once prime agricultural land is lost, it is almost never recovered. You can't rebuild soil that took thousands of years to form. You can't make rain fall where you would like it to, you can't easily relocate or expand irrigation systems, you can't replicate growing conditions with a click of your fingers—nor can you automatically replace the multi-generational farming knowledge tied to a particular place.

This Bill puts a simple principle into law: Australia's best farming land should be protected first, not sacrificed for political agendas.

This Bill is informed by best practice around the world and improves on it, so Australia has the very best protections for prime agricultural land on the planet.

As population grows, as global hunger grows, as housing spreads into farming areas, we must do more than just get the balance right. We must show the world how it is done.

We may have "boundless plains to share" but once the good plains are gone, it impossible to create new ones.

Why This Bill Is Needed

Across Australia, farmers are under pressure. Pressure from poorly planned development. Pressure from projects that promise jobs but leave land worse off. Pressure from foreign-controlled interests buying or controlling our most productive farmland. Pressure from an Albanese Labor Government hell-bent on a political energy target without a care for the prime agricultural land it renders unusable to feed and clothe our nation.

This Bill doesn't seek to shut down development. It doesn't block investment. It doesn't say "no" by default. What it says is this: if you want to use agricultural land for something else, you must prove the land, the farmer, and the community are respected and protected.

Mapping What Matters: Knowing Our Best Land

The first practical step in this Bill is simple but powerful: we must map our agricultural land nationally and do it properly.

There are national tools like the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (known as APSIM), Australian Collaborative Land Use Mapping Program (ACLUMP) and the Queensland and New South Wales statutory mapping of their prime agricultural land. But Australia lacks a national, uniform map.

Australia very quickly ascertained and mapped where the critical minerals are, but we don't seem to have the same focus on mapping where our critical farmland is.

Under this Bill, the Minister for Agriculture, working with peak farming bodies, must produce a national map that divides agricultural land into three clear categories:

Tier 1 Land: The Non-Negotiables

Let me be very clear about Tier 1 land. This Bill draws a firm line.

The Commonwealth must not fund any future project that reduces the farming productivity of Tier 1 land or allows foreign-owned or foreign-controlled corporations to take ownership or effective control of prime agricultural land.

This is not radical. It's responsible. And it's in the national interest.

Nations are searching the world for prime agricultural land to bolster their food security—we have plenty right here to not only secure, but ensure, we produce food for the world.

If land is among the best we have for farming, then governments should not be using public money to damage it or hand it over.

Tier 2 Land: Responsible Development

Tier 2 land allows more flexibility—but it's not a free-for-all. Projects can proceed only if they meet clear conditions.

If a project risks reducing agricultural productivity, the proponent must:

Returning farmland back to equal or better productivity is a claim some make, but the evidence is sketchy and farmers are highly sceptical about project proponents' promises.

In some cases, farmers are left in limbo waiting for a proponent to finish rehabilitating their farm, which just isn't working. This Bill will give them the option to finish the job properly and get on with their lives.

Under this Bill, project proponents' promises of proper rehabilitation must be backed by:

Protecting Farmers' Homes and Livelihoods

Farming isn't just a job—it's where people live.

This Bill will ensure that if a project funded by the Commonwealth forces a farmer out of their primary residence, that farmer must be properly supported.

Farmers must be no worse off—not in terms of the quality of housing, not in distance from their farms, not in their ability to keep farming.

When the Prime Minister says, 'nobody held back, nobody left behind,' that's not what it looks like for farmers. Farmers are not getting a fair go when government-subsidised projects kick them out of their multi-generational family farming home.

Social Licence: Giving Communities a Real Voice

One of the most important parts of this Bill is the ironclad principle of social licence.

Before Commonwealth funding is provided for projects affecting Tier 2 or Tier 3 land, this Bill will require the proponent to produce a genuine social licence report.

A new Agriculture Commissioner will be established as the independent umpire on whether social licence has been secured fair and square.

Too often we see governments and corporations pay lip service to social licence. No more.

Regional Australians have had enough of the box-ticking exercises. This is about trust and being treated with the same respect people expect and get in the city. Regional Australians feel out of sight, out of mind under State and Federal Labor governments. No more.

In addition to blowing the whistle on poorly handled social licence, the Agriculture Commissioner will:

Farmers can't fight big government or big corporations and their armies of lawyers. Disputes need to be affordable, quick and, most importantly, fair.

What This Bill Is—and What It Is Not

Let me finish by being very clear. This Bill is not anti-development. It is not anti-investment. It is not anti-renewables, mining, or infrastructure.

This Bill is pro-farmers, pro-food security, and pro-community.

State and Federal Labor governments are distorting markets with their eye-watering subsidies for projects in their attempts to pick winners for short term political gain.

This Bill picks food security and our farmers as the ones who must be winners every time, because that is in the national interest for generations to come.

This Bill ensures that if development backed by the Commonwealth taxpayer happens, it happens:

Conclusion: A Duty to the Future

We hold this land in trust—not just for today, but for future Australians.

This Bill recognises that food security is national security. That farming land is strategic infrastructure. And that once it's gone, it's gone for good.

This legislation chooses long-term national interest over short-term convenience.

I commend the Bill to the Senate.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.