Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, , 5:36:24 to 5:46:58
Examination of processed food import data, the need for new water infrastructure, and agricultural labor force challenges.
Topics: Food security, Infrastructure, Workplace relations
Speakers: Hon Matthew Canavan, Matt Lowe, Senator Ross Cadell, Miss Victoria Anderson, Speaker 23, Senator Glenn Sterle, Speaker 19, Tina Hutchison
>> Um can I so just on this um well you pick me up when you want. Is that okay? Um you just let me know Senator Gadell or chair. Um, so one thing I've struggled with when I've looked at this closely is I must give Abears credit. They've got excellent data on on the production of of fresh produce of raw food if you like. Uh, the issue that I find is the data seems a lot less sparse than when it comes to how we actually consume food through often packaged or processed goods. Uh, is that something you're trying to drill down into? because well obviously again we have uh the the the the grains uh uh you know the the carcasses slaughtered all these things but in terms of converting into a product that people actually buy and consume uh you know when you go to our shops now you know you can't really get tinned or canned pineapples or fruit really from Australia uh are all from overseas largely even though we've got a lot of the fresh produce so is that being looked at as well
>> yeah uh so and at a high level I guess to furnish you with some information. Um, as we understand it, about 90% of what Australians consume is domestically produced. Um, that includes
>> includes processed goods.
>> Yeah, it does include process. So 10% from imported, which I I do think is is quite a privileged position um for Australians um to have so much of their diets locally produced. Um but but it is something we're concerned about and obviously um as you'd appreciate Senator production and what what producers choose to produce, what commodities they're in the market for is also subject to kind of market forces and what consumption patterns and what consumers are demanding. So trying to find that balance with kind of what consumers want um what we need to produce domestically um and what's economic is is part of the puzzle that that I think sits in the food security strategy.
>> Okay. So is there any publicly available data on on processed goods? That figure you used is that from
>> Yeah, I'll pass to Abezz who um is always good at supporting us with data.
>> Uh yeah, thanks. So the work that we did that came up with the uh 90% figure was work we did a few years ago. So I'll probably have to check the actual source of that data. I think it was just standard import export data,
>> right?
>> Customs data, but I can confirm that for
>> Okay. Okay.
>> And it is largely processed food that we're importing. There's the odd bit of fresh uh out of season stuff, but it's mainly processed food.
uh with well one more question on this and I've got some stuff on the details of the strategy. What about there doesn't seem to be a large focus on on opening up new new food growing areas. Uh so we've gone through a process where uh the [clears throat] water use in the Murray Darling has been significantly restricted and now capped. uh uh uh the previous uh coalition government had a detailed [clears throat] plan to try and open up new areas of farming uh particularly working with the CSRO identifying water resources in Northern Australia in particular. Is anything of this strategy about trying to build dams, capture new water supplies uh to grow more food?
um it's not something we're principally concerned ourselves with with the food security strategy. I think um kind of fundamentally one of the underpinnings as I mentioned to Senator Cadell is about the productive base um and ensuring that the kind of that that base remains productive and competitive internationally.
>> But how are we going to keep pace with population growth unless we build more dams and and and expand farming? >> I mean, how's we're going to slowly erode our food security then?
>> Well, I think
>> as we have been and we are right now.
Yeah, I totally appreciate I guess where you're coming from, Senator. Um, I think there's a range of different inputs that support the productivity of of Australian agriculture and those um and and those drivers of product productivity have meant that Australian agriculture has outperformed in terms of productivity growth.
>> 100% it has. That's the problem though. We've been at the frontier. We've been uh our farming sector has been one of the strongest if not the strongest performer at a sector level in terms of productivity. But despite that, as I said with the figures I just mentioned, uh we are declining in food security per person in overall time terms. Despite that, so I'm not sure how much faster we can expect our farmers to go and we've got very high population growth. So we're going to have to look presumably look at the other side of this equation, which is the volume is the inputs. If we increase the inputs into farming while maintaining high productivity growth, we can get more output to match population growth. I don't understand a food security strategy doesn't focus on dams.
If I go from there, we covered you said you're looking at ura, we looking at diesel in a lot of your forecast, a lot of your things in the short term. Senator Blair was saying talking about a bit her potato farmer in Tasmania. Are you looking at your government policy now the holiday visa, the backpackers? Have you modeled that into production?
Um for the purposes of our forecasts for the agricultural commodities report um we've been following the discussion and concerns of the industry um and a lot of our forecasts are actually based on the feedback that we're hearing from industry. Um so that that that's sort of an indirect way of how we're sort of being
>> is that an indirect way of saying yes you have factored in some change in workforce.
>> We're hearing what people are telling us what the uh outlook looks like over the next few months. So, I wouldn't necessarily say that we've tied it to people. Um, but we're aware of the challenges that people in the industry are facing and that when they're saying, "I'm thinking of doing this in the next season or over the next 6 months," that's more or less what we're feeding into our projections and forecasts.
>> I think it's a very good answer. I'll try a better question. Have the people you've been talking to saying labor force might be an issue in their plans coming forward?
>> I'd have to take that one on notice. I haven't been involved personally with some of those discussions
>> because a lot of farmers are saying to us the crop guys are that labor is as important as if not more important than some of those things not across the industry but there go >> um is when we talk about food security is Australia a signature are there any treaties or or international devices where we have a obligation or we've signed up for food supply or food
>> um I'm I'm not aware I don't think I don't think I don't we can take it on notice not not from the top of my head. Senator
>> I just noticed that a lot of farms Senator Colbeck was talking about reforestation and stuff where we're talking about international treaties on climate where on the I don't think we've got a defensive mechanism where our responsibility to produce food is balanced against a lot of our international treaties. I don't think we've got the power to reach down. So if you could reach in that would be really good if
>> yeah we'll double check. Uh I think in terms of export we have very few export controls or anything like that. We can we can double check in a case of an emergency. >> It would be I don't want to scare people about food security in Australia because we do produce a lot of food. So um but Miss Hutchin do you want to add anything on the treat?
>> To our knowledge we we are not signed up to any anything that would commit us to that senator.
>> Right. And I think just to add, Senator, we have to be a little bit careful about commitments globally on food security because our industry [clears throat] wants choice about where it sends food to. So in terms of export, there are some countries who would love us to be signing up to you will supply us with this no matter what. And we have resisted that because our our industry wants some choice. I appreciate you're probably talking about inwood foods like domestic food security, but it it's a little bit vexed because of the range of different interests. like some countries would, you know, have zero [clears throat] food security because they don't domestically produce. So, we just got to be a bit careful.
>> I was trying to subtly, but now I've got to do it less subtly make a political point that >> international treaties can affect our agricultural lands in an urgy way. I was wondering if there was a positive way to protect them under the same mechanism. mechanisms [clears throat] um strategies or issues that are off the table in looking at what to recommend? Is there anything, you know, as an old school protectionist that um [laughter] are not going to hide that are there any things off the table if we say that we're suffering in an industry? Can we look at supports? Can we look at helps to help a particular line? if it's supply lines, if it's, you know, if it is dairy, if for these things, can we look at recommendations or particular items? Is there anything we can't recommend at this stage? I
>> I mean, as a general principle, um, in terms of policy advice that we provide to government, we generally do not try to kind of contradict existing government policy.
>> So, you're saying milk milk single desk will not won't be in the recommendation?
I >> I don't I don't think so, Senator, but but we have not been given any restrictions about what the strategy itself could look at. We we've been told to interpret it broadly and have done so. >> I think the biggest restraint personally will be the fiscal situation and you know um obviously we are operating in a constrained fiscal environment and and we have to um participate in a system that at the moment is not looking for giant spends but putting that to one side that's a matter for government decision-m um we have not been given any writing instructions of do look at this or don't look at that. It's been a very open invitation [clears throat] to stakeholders and then through the food >> council and and in discussions with a range of people across government. We have not looked to restrict ourselves to any particular away from any particular
topics. I was quite um glad you mentioned dairy though, Senator, because that um more recently has been performing um particularly well um and you might have seen recent reports in the weekly times with farm profits up profits up multiple kind of 100%. Um over the over recent years. So I think there's a really positive story to tell and hopefully that attracts [clears throat] more people into the industry.
>> Dairy farming is so hard. It is not at the bottom of things jobs I would do, but it's towards the bottom I will say and Graeme Forbes would kill me if I didn't say that $2 milk should be a goal of these people across this country.
>> I think dairy Australia is up to
>> Yeah, we bring it there.
>> Good story to tell.
>> Yeah, chair. I'm right, but I think
Senator has no I'd like to go just come across to Senator Dolega because he's got to go somewhere else for a second and I'll go across to Senator Scarr. >> Senator Dolega.