Called ‘Feast or Famine’, the group’s election platform identifies a series of major challenges facing the national fruit, vegetable, nut, nursery and turf industries.
It also puts forward practical actions for the next government to take that will set the industry on a sustainable course, including:
- Implementing a National Food Plan.
- Securing a skilled and productive workforce.
- Giving the ACCC stronger powers.
- Fairer and sustainable funding for biosecurity.
- Launching a campaign to boost Aussie fruit, vegie and nut intake.
NFF Horticulture Council chair Jolyon Burnett said global, national and regional events were raising the prospect of an insecure food future, and strategic and deliberate stewardship of the food system was required if Australia is to sustain itself.
“For a long time, governments have been hands off, relying upon the ingenuity and ambition of our farmers to find new and better ways of leveraging Australia’s endowment of natural resources,” Mr Burnett said.
“And we have had great success in this approach. Australia has one of the most efficient farming sectors anywhere in the world.
“But growers are carrying an enormous load on behalf of the Australian people and are now at risk of buckling under the weight.”
The council wants the next Federal Government to engage in careful, strategic stewardship of the agriculture sector.
“As a lead commitment, to bring all these threads together cohesively, we are recommending the development of a National Food Plan, to be implemented by a new minister for food or a special subcommittee of Cabinet to oversee its implementation,” Mr Burnett said.
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