Opinion by David Jochinke, National Farmers’ Federation President
When Parliament last sat in March, there was a lot of noise, but not much certainty.
Pundits were betting on a minority government and everyone was trying to hazard a guess what an unpredictable United States administration might do next.
Fast forward, and while we’ve had an election and a global shake-up, the uncertainty hasn’t gone anywhere. What’s changed is the mood in Canberra.
There’s now serious political capital to spend. The government’s got a chance to get some legacy wins on the board.
We know top of the list is tax reform, and, what may just become this year’s buzzword, productivity.
Agriculture is in the thick of these conversations, with the National Farmers’ Federation at the table feeding into the government’s productivity agenda. And rightly so, because when it comes to productivity, farmers have been sounding the alarm for years.
The ABARES Snapshot makes the problem crystal clear. Yes, ag is a heavyweight in the national economy. Yes, gross production has jumped 51 per cent in 20 years. But dig deeper and the picture isn’t as rosy.
Productivity growth has dropped from 2.18pc a year to just 0.6pc.
That’s not a blip, it’s a serious downward trend.
Farmers are still punching above their weight. This year’s ag production is tipped to hit $90.8 billion, the third highest on record.
Innovation isn’t the problem. Farmers are adopting cutting-edge technology, improving sustainability and doing more with less, all while the world’s asking for more food and fibre.
But Canberra? It’s not helping.
Bad policy and bloated bureaucracy are weighing farmers down. We’re seeing more paperwork, more duplication, and rules written by people who’ve never fixed a fence or balanced the books.
In the first sitting fortnight of the new parliament, I hit “the Hill” to raise our key concerns with decision-makers.
Here’s our top five:
Superannuation reform: Ditch the super tax. Taxing unrealised gains will be a disaster for family farms.
Climate policy: Farmers want to be part of the solution, but don’t burden the sector with a load it can’t carry.
Trade: Stay steady with the US and secure a fair deal with the European Union.
Environmental reform: Don’t dump other sectors’ emissions problems on farmers. No more green tape for the sake of it.
Food security strategy: The world’s uncertain, the climate’s changing so let’s get moving.
The government’s productivity push needs to start by cutting the crap. Farmers are drowning in red tape. Compliance costs are skyrocketing. And every new policy seems to come with another pile of paperwork to wade through.
We need commonsense reform. That means no duplication between state and federal systems (yes, that’s a nod to environmental regs), simple, streamlined reporting, and policy designed with practical outcomes, not political point-scoring.
Farmers are ready to drive growth. Quite simply, government needs to strip back the red tape and bad policies, and let farmers get on with the job.
First published in Farm Weekly.
Ashleigh Whittaker