Fatima Payman (WA, Australia's Voice) Share this | Hansard source

A saying attributed to British intelligence branch MI5 is that society is always just four meals away from anarchy. Investment agency Klimb found that, in 2024, Australia consumed 8.7 million tonnes of fertiliser, valued at $5.5 billion, of which imports accounted for 7.9 million tonnes. Reliance on international supplies has only risen as Australia's domestic manufacturing industry has withered. According to the commodity journal Argus Media, the price of urea, a key fertiliser, rose by nearly 20 per cent in the first week of the Iran war. Current domestic supplies are expected to last until mid-April, and, as Argus Media points out, this could not have come at a worse time. Domestic demand for granular urea peaks in April to June for pre-seeding and top-dressing applications on winter crops such as canola, barley and wheat.