GrainGrowers has called on the federal government to commit to investments in its next budget to reduce supply chain costs and increase labour supply, providing an opportunity for the industry to push for an increased global market share for grains, pulses and oilseeds.
With a budget focus on cost-of-living issues, GrainGrowers said the approach would provide a win-win for growers and the government by easing inflationary pressures on Australian consumers.
GrainGrowers has used its pre-budget submission to detail funding requests across six key areas: carbon and climate, people and workforce, biosecurity, grain freight and supply chains, trade and market access and farm inputs. The requests align with issues identified through the GrainGrowers Annual Policy Survey.
A summary of the funding recommendations is included below.
GrainGrowers Chair Rhys Turton said the range of industry-specific investments aimed to increase the resilience and sustainability of Australian grain growers.
“The grains industry is a significant economic and social force in regional Australia, comprising 22,500 farm businesses covering an estimated 31 million hectares of land and directly employing 34,000 workers each season, with thousands more employed across the supply chain.
In the 2022-23 growing season, Australian grain growers contributed $33 billion gross value of production to the Australian economy.”
“As an industry, we significantly contribute to regional Australia and the broader economy. The investments outlined can potentially deliver substantial value to the industry and the wider community.
Mr Turton said government support and investment in the specified areas are fundamental to the longer-term development of the grain industry.
“If we are going to meet future challenges and opportunities, we need focused, strategic investment across a range of key areas.”
“The investments detailed in our pre-budget submission are realistic and carefully targeted. We believe they can deliver real value to growers, the wider industry, and the Australian community, and we urge the government to give them strong consideration in their budget discussions,” Mr Turton said.
Summary of Recommendations
Carbon and Climate
- $50 million of existing funding allocated to the Regional Investment Corporation (RIC) for a pilot loan to assist growers in investing in the adoption of low emission practices, initiatives, and technologies, that is not contingent on current disaster, hardship or drought funding triggers.
- $2 million to develop an agriculture-specific low emission vehicle roadmap and strategy.
- $10 million over 5 years to fund development of a common framework, methodologies and measurement tools for GHG accounting in agriculture.
People and Workforce
- $200,000 from the Community Childcare Fund (CCCF) to fund a pilot program aimed at facilitating building renovations to bring selected prospective family day care venues up to code in regional and remote grain growing areas.
- $50 million over three years to enable a national roll-out of the Ag Skilled initiative. The Ag Skilled program has been a successful program by the NSW Government to upskill primary production industries.
- $1 million per annum for ABARES, specifically for the employment of additional staff and resources to collect more granular grain grower focused workforce data, informing a better understanding of specific grains industry workforce needs.
- $500 million funding to local councils for infrastructure projects to expedite the release of land and support an increase in key worker housing in regional Australia.
- $17 million over five years for a bold, national, agricultural industry-based intervention to grow farmers’ wellbeing and prevent suicides across the sector.
Biosecurity
- Maintain the commitment made in the 2023-24 budget of an additional $1.03 billion over four years (and $268.3 million per year ongoing from 2027-28) for biosecurity funding, while ensuring greater and more granular public accountability and reporting for biosecurity expenditure and activities, enabling improved biosecurity system performance.
Grain Freight and Supply Chains
- $2 million for the Treasury to develop a mandatory code on port terminal access charges.
- Increase funding for the Roads to Recovery Program to $1 billion per year to support ongoing maintenance of the nation’s local road infrastructure and address the current shortfall in funding for local councils.
- $900 million per year in targeted funding for key regional freight corridors to improve the long-term resilience of freight networks.
- $100 million in targeted funding each year as part of the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program to rebuild critical aging bridge infrastructure.
Trade and Market Access
- Invest $100 million into initiatives that ensure the sustainable growth and market expansion of Australian export-orientated agricultural businesses including: additional agricultural counsellors and funding for the program.
Farm Inputs
- Allocate $100 million of the National Reconstruction Fund to economically viable, fertiliser-specific domestic manufacturing projects that structurally lower the cost of fertilisers, reduce emissions, and shorten Australia’s fertiliser supply chains.
- Maintain the fuel tax excise rebate for off-road fuel use.
ends
Media contact
Chris Rowley
P: 0415 140 253 | chris.rowley@graingrowers.com.au
