NFF’s opening statement to the Carbon Credits Bill Inquiry
This statement was made by NFF’s CEO Mike Guerin at the Carbon Credits Bill Inquiry on 30 October 2026. Thank you, Senators. The National Farmers’ Federation supports reforms that strengthen the integrity of the ACCU Scheme while ensuring it remains practical and accessible for farmers and landholders. We welcome several elements of the Bill including […]
Restoration Contributions Calculator Methodology
NFF supports Restoration Contributions as a practical alternative to proponent-delivered environmental offsets and as a means of funding strategic conservation at a landscape scale. The Restoration Contributions system must be workable for both business and the environment and have sufficient flexibility to deliver strategic environmental outcomes while also ensuring charges remain proportionate and encourage participation. […]
Environment Protection Reform Consultation: Shaping the Next Phase of Environmental Reforms
At a high-level, reforms must be workable and proportionate to the realities of the farm sector. This includes not only ensuring appropriate recognition of the sector but also providing clarity in decision-making as it relates to key concepts like ‘Significant Impact’ and improved and clear guidance as to how routine farm activities interact with the […]
Natural Resources Committee Inquiry on the Management of Buffel Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris and Cenchrus pennisetiformis) in South Australia
The NFF is very concerned that Buffel grass is once again being targeted for greater regulatory control despite the overwhelming evidence that Buffel grass is a ‘Feed of National Significance’ and not a Weed of National Significance (WoNS). This is particularly true in South Australia where there is a growing number of truly invasive and […]
Getting It Right: Building AI Infrastructure That Works For Australia – Consultation Paper
Broader responsibility over water security, allocation, and quality management should continue to recognise the primary role of States and Territories. National Standards must complement and not duplicate or displace existing jurisdictional water management arrangements. The principles outlined in the draft National Water Agreement are important benchmarks. Data centres must be subject to the same existing […]
Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026
While we acknowledge that the Bill introduced to Parliament provides for a two-stage consent process for relevant area-based offsets projects on Native Title or claimed Native Title land, this does not resolve our underlying concerns. The ability for such a project to be declared eligible subject to an outstanding consent condition remains contingent on securing […]
House of Assembly Select Committee on Commonwealth Decisions on Agricultural Land
In NFF’s view, the Rushy Lagoon transaction has exposed a failure in Commonwealth process that warrants closer scrutiny. Legitimate questions remain about whether agricultural and broader community interests were properly considered through the relevant funding and approval processes. Concerns have also been raised about whether prospective purchasers may have been disadvantaged and whether potential conflicts […]
Improving the Efficiency of Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
For NFF, the shortcomings are particularly evident in its failure to adequately account for the consequential impacts of mandatory Scope 3 disclosures both on reporting entities and on businesses operating outside the Group category thresholds. The potential for these requirements to generate significant additional information requests and compliance costs throughout agricultural supply chains was foreseeable […]
2026-27 Safeguard Mechanism Review
NFF does not support a policy architecture that increasingly relies on agriculture to supply lower-cost offsets for residual emissions generated elsewhere in the economy. Agriculture cannot be taken for granted to do the heavy lifting for other sectors that carry on as business-as-usual, particularly where those sectors have access to more established and mature opportunities […]
Water Act Review must deliver balance, certainty and better outcomes
The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has lodged its submission to the independent review of the Water Act 2007, calling for a modern, balanced framework that delivers environmental outcomes while achieving production outcomes. NFF Water Committee Chair Malcolm Holm said the review was a chance to ensure Australia’s water laws are fit for purpose and reflect […]