Minister, thank you for your remarks, and for the Government’s continued engagement with Australian agriculture, we look forward to seeing you again tonight at the $100bn celebration.
Good morning, everyone. It is terrific to see you all here.
Charlotte (Wundersitz) has already taken you through some of the people joining us today. It is an extraordinary group from across agriculture, business, government, and our regions.
Thank you to everyone for making the time to be here for this important Summit. It somehow feels like it is the start of something bigger.
The National Gallery is a fitting place for a conversation about Australia’s future. That is what we want today to be about.
Not simply agriculture talking to agriculture about problems we already know. We want today to begin building a truly National Table, bringing different experiences to the forces shaping our country and the production of Australia’s food and fibre.
Farmers are at the heart of agriculture, but we do not operate alone. I know firsthand the important role banks, insurers, suppliers, retailers, telcos and many others across the supply chain play in running our farming operations. That is why agribusinesses are an integral part of national conversations.
This morning, we are delighted to welcome the Commonwealth Bank as a new partner of the National Farmers’ Federation. We have a number of senior agribusiness leaders from the Commonwealth Bank here today and we just met the 10 young emerging leaders whose participation is made possible by CBA.
I share your commitment to the next generation, so it is terrific to have all of you contributing today and to have the Commonwealth Bank join the NFF family, hopefully for many years to come.
To all our long-standing partners — Nutrien, Woolworths, WFI Insurance, Prime Super, Syngenta, Nufarm, Telstra and nbn — thank you for continuing to back the NFF and for backing Australian agriculture. Our partners are in the room today, so I encourage everyone to seek them out during the breaks and hear their important perspectives on the topics we will cover.
The idea for the theme of this Summit, the National Table, is not a complicated one.
On our property in south-west Queensland, most of the important conversations happen around our kitchen table.
Mary and I built our farming business from our first property near Dirranbandi. These days we run cropping, cattle, feedlots and poultry across a fair stretch of Queensland. Our three sons are involved too, so there is always plenty to discuss.
Around our table, we talk about cattle, crops, water and what the bank manager might say about our next big idea.
It is not a boardroom. But it is where plans are made, problems are sorted and the future of our business is decided.
And nothing stays theoretical for long.
A shipping disruption can mean fuel or fertiliser does not arrive when we need it. A decision made overseas can change the price we receive for our cattle or cotton, and a regulation written in Canberra can change what we do in a paddock thousands of kilometres away.
These are not distant policy debates. They are playing out around farmers’ kitchen tables right now.
Today, in this room, we are deliberately building a bigger National Table.
We will each leave here and return to other tables — be it board tables, council tables, industry tables and kitchen tables. Each has its own role, and each matters.
But wherever we are sitting, the questions are much the same — What is changing? What does it mean in practice? Who needs to be part of the conversation? And how do we make good decisions early?
Farmers have always built businesses around things we cannot control — the season, prices, interest rates and markets.
We know a good plan matters. But we also know that seasons do not always go to plan.
What feels different now is how connected the risks have become. We are seeing the impacts play out in real time.
On our own farm, we have seen a conflict on the other side of the world change the price and availability of fuel or fertiliser, both critical to the running of our business. A trade dispute, through no fault of our own, can close a market we rely on for meat exports. A looming biosecurity emergency has the potential to stop our poultry operation overnight.
Then there are major national ambitions that must be delivered on the ground and in our regions.
Australia has set a target of building 1.2 million new homes over five years. Australia is also working towards 82 per cent renewable electricity by 2030.
Both matter. But in regional Australia, they rely on the same land, roads, builders, electricians and already limited housing.
Infrastructure Australia expects the shortage of infrastructure workers in regional areas to increase fourfold by 2027, driven largely by energy and utility projects.
That can mean a farm, a food processor, a council and an energy project all vying for the same electrician, mechanic and truck driver.
And even if you find the right person, they might not be able to take the job if there isn’t anywhere for them to live.
That is the crux of today’s Summit and highlights why the National Table is important.
Housing is our conversation. Energy, infrastructure, trade, technology and national security are our conversations. Food security is certainly our conversation.
But it is not ours alone.
These national priorities meet on farms and in regional towns. Eventually, they all land back at someone’s kitchen table.
The question is whether agriculture waits for those decisions to reach us, or whether we are at the table early enough to help shape them.
That question sits at the heart of today’s Summit, and at the heart of the National Farmers’ Federation’s role.
We will always be the national voice of Australian farmers. We must represent farmers clearly and fearlessly.
But being a strong voice is not always the same as having influence.
Influence means turning up early with credible evidence and practical solutions. It means building relationships beyond the people who already agree with us, and bringing the right people together.
That is the kind of national institution the NFF must continue to be.
As leaders in our sector here today, we do not own every conversation. But agriculture has a stake in the outcome, and a responsibility on behalf of those we represent, to contribute.
This message comes at a particularly poignant time for agriculture.
There is an old saying: “never waste a crisis”.
The recent pressure on fuel and fertiliser supplies has been a real test. But it has also shown us what having a seat at the table actuallylooks like.
I want to acknowledge Ministers Collins and Bowen and the government for involving agriculture early in the response. The NFF was brought into separate working groups on fuel and fertiliser alongside the departments responsible for agriculture, industry, foreign affairs and the national fuel response. Working closely with our partner, Nutrien, to ensure members were kept abreast of what was happening.
The discussions were practical — where would the next shipment of urea come from? How could it clear our ports faster without weakening biosecurity? And how do get access to diesel as well as distribute it to the regions and industries that needed it most?
That is very different from hearing about a decision after it has already been made.
It is also a sign of a sector maturing beyond a narrow agricultural policy conversation. Agriculture must now continue to build momentum around how Australia thinks about food security, supply chain resilience and sovereign capability. That is the opportunity we have before us today, to help prepare our sector to increasingly be part of those conversations.
That standing will not appear overnight. It will be built by an industry prepared to set ambitious goals and deliver on them.
In 2018, the NFF set a goal for agriculture to become a $100 billion industry by 2030.
At the time, farm production was worth around $60 billion. It was a bold goal, and many thought it was too bold.
But farmers would not be in this game if we were frightened of a challenge.
ABARES forecasts Australian farm production would reach $101.4 billion for 2025-26, taking us past the target four years early.
That is an enormous achievement. But it was not the work of one government, one organisation, one leader, or one good season.
Governments from both sides backed the ambition. Researchers, advisers and businesses helped farmers find better ways of doing things. And farmers got on with the job — taking risks, investing and adapting through some very difficult times.
More than anything, it showed what can happen when industry, government, research and business organise around a clear national ambition.
Tonight, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition will join us at Parliament House, along with 40 Ministers, Senators and Members of Parliament, from all sides of politics, to celebrate that achievement.
Reaching $100 billion is not a Labor or Coalition achievement. It is a national achievement that matters to our economy, food security, regional communities and our place in the world.
We are pleased to be partnering with Telstra to bring you tonight’s celebration.
Telstra stood alongside the NFF when the target was launched in 2018. They helped develop the 2030 Roadmap and stayed involved, supporting our conversations with farmers and industry about reaching the goal.
It is fitting to have them beside us again tonight. Thank you to Cecelia Burgman, Nick Stacpoole and the Telstra team here today. Mike and I will say more tonight about where the conversation goes next.
For now, reaching $100 billion gives us confidence. But it should not make us complacent.
A strong national target does not mean every farm is profitable. It does not mean every regional community has the services, infrastructure or people it needs. And it does not mean the next generation automatically has the confidence to build its future in agriculture.
Productivity without profitability does not keep a family on the land.
For me, that remains the test, and we still have a long road ahead of us.
The test is whether farmers, fishers and foresters can stay productive and profitable through the seasons, market cycles and policy changes ahead. And, importantly, whether they see a future worth investing in.
That is why today’s program reaches well beyond the traditional agricultural portfolio.
Throughout the sessions today, we will look at Australia’s place in a changing world, and what a food-exporting nation needs to keep producing when global supply chains are disrupted.
As we will see in our supply chain-focused panel, growing the food and fibre is only the beginning. A grain contract overseas is of little use if the port is closed. Livestock cannot reach a processor if the transport system breaks down. And production quickly becomes difficult when critical supplies do not arrive.
Australia’s domestic freight task is expected to grow by 26 per cent between 2020 and 2050. In regional Australia, that can mean grain trucks, livestock trucks, mining equipment and renewable energy components all relying on the same roads and bridges.
We will also look at how we make good decisions when agriculture, energy, housing, infrastructure and environmental protection meet in the same communities. How do we recognise the cumulative pressure, involve communities early, respect property rights and share the benefits fairly?
These are practical questions about what our regions are being asked to carry and whether the infrastructure can keep up.
To cover these topics and more, we will hear from people both inside and outside our sector. We will agree with some views and disagree with others. And that’s a good thing.
We need to understand how others see the world. We need to listen closely when something challenges our own view. And we need to be honest about where our decisions create consequences for others.
I hope we listen today for the connections between the issues, rather than treating each one as a separate problem.
I also hope we listen for action.
If we leave with a better description of the challenges, but no clearer sense of what needs to change or who we need to work with, we will not have used this opportunity well.
But if we leave with stronger relationships, a better understanding of the choices ahead, and a few practical things we can do together, today will have mattered.
I am optimistic that it will.
When Mary and I make decisions around our kitchen table, it usually comes back to the business and industry we want to build for our children, and what they might one day pass on.
There are versions of that conversation happening on farms and in regional communities right across Australia.
The decisions made around this National Table will eventually find their way back to those families.
That is why this conversation matters. And it is why we need to use today well.
Thank you to our speakers, moderators and partners. And thank you to everyone in this room for bringing your experience, your ideas and your leadership to the National Table.
I look forward to the conversation, and to celebrating with you tonight.
Welcome to the 2026 NFF Leaders’ Summit.