Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, , 6:40:49 to 6:52:18
Officials discuss the development of a national food security strategy, focusing on supply chain resilience, critical inputs like fertilizer and fuel, and lessons learned from recent global disruptions.
Topics: Food security, Infrastructure
Speakers: Matt Lowe, Senator Tammy Tyrrell, Paul Denny, Unknown Speaker, Senator Glenn Sterle
about food security, could you start explaining why it's important for Australia to look beyond >> how much food we produce simply beyond how much food we produce and consider the broader systems and supply chains that allow food to get from the farm to
>> Officials join us at the table. Um but um as we've been discussing in the in the committee previously and and I think it's a really important topic um an important topic to keep discussing um with the Senate on um it is important that we take a broad broad view of food security. Um so some of the lenses that um have come up through consultation who through come up with our own come up through our own analysis and and and through engagement across across government have been ensuring and supporting the productive base of food production in Australia. So obviously the agricultural production system is vitally important and um a foundation of our food security in Australia. Um the resilience of our supply chains is a really important lens in relation to food security. So their resilience in relation to I guess long-term pressures but also short-term shocks and disruptions. Um the Middle East I think is a very good example of that. Um they're not that's not the only shock. I think we talked about H5 as well in this committee previously. um biocurity shocks in general being a really important um thing for us to consider in thinking about the resilience of our supply chains and our production systems. Um we're concerned with um the regional economies um which are if you like where um so much agricultural production and food processing occurs in Australia um and the vitality of those going forward. Um and we're concerned um with the affordability, safety um and and and for of food and the ability for Australians to access that food and to ensure that it's nutritious and healthy for them as well. So they're I guess if you like some of the domains that we're looking at um across the food security strategy. And I think one of um one of the other observations that I think this kind committee was able to sort of um um reveal is the nature of the food of food and food policy and the food system is is quite disagregated. Um there's a number of government agencies that are involved in it. Um but also um across the economy um there's a number of participants in in in food and therefore food security. what um we're what we're concerned with um in relation to thinking about the strategy and as we develop it is thinking about it as a system as a whole >> and how does it work as a system as a whole? How can we think about that in a way that builds Australia's food security as well?
>> Would that be considered like what some of the pressures that are on the industry as such and how you're trying to manage those and provide solutions?
Um I think from our perspective it's important to acknowledge some of those pressures um and and then think about the role um that a food security strategy can play. I think we want to be very mindful of any interventions um that we might propose or recommend as part of that strategy that they are targeted um principally to kind of areas which can have maximum impact um in relation to supporting Australia's food security going forward. um some of those long-term pressures um that you mentioned are kind of areas where long run existing programs um support um kind of if you like the productivity of the Australia's agriculture sector which is one of the primary drivers of our ability to remain competitive internationally and produce food that's cost effective um and um and resilient to if you like the shocks that that
the whole food system help Australia prepare for future challenges. So how will that work? How does this all tie together and how are we going to make it
>> Yeah, great question. I'll I'll defer to colleagues to
>> know me when I ask question
>> because you always direct it to somebody who doesn't know the answer.
>> You think I can
>> So just picking up.
>> We're sorry. We digress. We've been here
>> It's okay. Just to pick up on what Mr. Low was saying. So I guess we're using a a broad conceptualization of what food security is. So has to be more than just the amount of food we produce. It's um looking at um whether people can afford it. Um whether it's safe and and nutritious um whether it's can continue to be reliable during during shocks. um whether people have a say in in in their choices about the type of food um they eat um and whether it's sustainable both economically um socially um and environmentally. So they're the broad dimensions that we're looking at uh the food food security for Australia. Um and so it's a big complex system with multiple component parts
>> which you've highlighted especially with the international change that we've had. How do you manage those pressures and ensure that our our farmers and our food bowl and food integrity are maintained moving forward? Um, and we've talked about ura throughout the morning. >> How do we counteract those things moving forward and ensure that we're ready and
So I think um I think you've hit on one of one of the key kind of areas around food security which is critical inputs um that support um the the continued production um uh system the agricultural production system sorry um so critical inputs that we're concerned with obviously fertilizer um not ura is obviously a key one but not not the only one fuel um ag chemicals is another
critical supply chain.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Absolutely. So if if farmers don't have access to those um the ar it becomes quite challenging for them to manage their farm farming systems um digital. So um the potential disruption through cyber attack um and the potential impact that that could have. um we've talked in this committee today about labor and the importance of that for example as well. So I think what we're doing is trying to think about all of those critical inputs into um uh Australia's production systems and think about what sort of shocks they might be subject to. What might be ways to build the resilience of those supply chains and resilience can be sovereign capability. >> Resilience could be diversification. resilience could be um some sort of greater um certainty around the supply arrangements that exist for example.
>> So how are the lessons from recent disruptions informing the government's longerterm work on food security?
>> Yeah. So um and and a classic two classic examples are um the the H5 and obviously the Middle Middle East incursion. I think we've taken them as work sorry the Middle East crisis we've taken them as um as as if you like working examples for the food security strategy. So on on on the Middle East for example one of the things that um we thought was important was um the establishment of the or the government um thought was important was the establishment of the fuel and fertilizer security facility. >> Um and we've talked about that in the committee before. I think another one is is access to information. So how can you give the agriculture sector for example in this instance confidence um about what's available and what might be coming up. So um fertilizer the creation of our fertilizer dashboard in that instance was important. Um also fuel supplies. So um the government's uh ability to provide greater information about fuel supplies that were onshore, what were coming um just gave the sector greater confidence that they'll be able to access fuel uh complete planting sewing activities and then ultimately um as we're currently in the window for harvest activities as well.
>> I'm going to ask the same question sort of in a different way. So the measures that we put in place to ensure food security and ensuring that moving forward that we do have sovereign capability and security what announcements has the government done that's going to strengthen this ability
>> So um I think um the we're probably primarily concerned with the um with the Middle East crisis in this regard. Um the the key ones would be the fuel and fertilizer facility. Um another one would be um around the um investments around sort of increased storage um and onore storage of of fuel. Um and then I'm probably going to ask my team to assist me if there's any others that we
>> the the um fuel security and resilience package is the main package I think that
>> So fuel security is one of the primaries for our rural industries to maintain and proceed moving forward. >> Is there any other work underway to strengthen access to other essential a inputs that you can think of that we've got in the pipeline?
I think the main focus, Senator, as you probably appreciate, has been um on those inputs that have been um if you like, impacted by the Middle East crisis. Um so, so fuel and fertilizer principally in that regard. though we did do a lot of work um uh at the commencement of the crisis and as its impacts intensified on on other areas such as agette chemicals such as plastics um for example as well. So plastics was one um that we did work with the department of industry science and resources on to understand exactly that how that could impact food um security. Um, so plastic packaging, um, silage, those sorts of things were things that we were wanting to understand, um, how they were impacted and whether that would have implications for food security and something we'll keep a watching brief
>> Okay. Thank you. Thanks.
>> Thank you, Senator Thrill. Senator, uh, sorry McDonald can savan.