Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management. Will the minister outline to the House how the Morrison-McCormack government is supporting the road to recovery from the economic effects of the pandemic through its investment in agricultural research?

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Flynn for his question and acknowledge the rich contribution that Flynn makes, not only in the agricultural sector but also in the resources sector, towards our nation's economy and towards reaching the ambitious agricultural goal of $100 billion by 2030. One of the biggest investments the government can make to agriculture achieving that is in our most precious resources, our human capital. The government is working closely with our research and development corporations—15 research and development corporations—to help achieve that $100 billion goal by 2030. Each year, government, industry, and levy payers contribute over $1.1 billion towards research and development to make sure that we are giving our farmers the tools of the 21st century, with cutting-edge science and technology that allow them to get the production and profitability targets that we are looking for to make this $100 billion industry.

I'm pleased to say that the innovation modernisation program that I announced in 2019 after the EY review is well underway, and we are working with those 15 RDCs, getting back to our core principles of making sure there is money available to the levy payer and taxpayer, making sure that there isn't duplication of research. With those 15 RDCs we are seeing cross-sectoral research being undertaken by four or five of them—that's not an efficient use of taxpayers' or levy payers' money. We're also working through ensuring there is better collaboration and commercialisation of the research. A failure in one RDC may be a success in another. We are creating a growAG website, which will make sure there is coordination and accountability and transparency back to the levy payer to make sure that everyone understands exactly where their levy dollar is going.

We're also undertaking what the states have let us down on—the extension and adoption work. The states have walked away from this. I'm pleased to say the Prime Minister and I have announced a further $86 million for eight new research and development hubs out in the regions, out amongst the farmers, the ones whom we want to adopt the new technology and the science to be able to get them to be more productive, to support regional and rural Australia. We'll intertwine that with the drought research hub so that there isn't any overhang or waste of taxpayers' money. This is a practical step, a practical investment in research and development in our primary production systems.

In that EY report we were labelled No. 20 in the world for research and development. The United States and the Netherlands are ranked fourth and sixth in the world and have the same number of researchers that we do in Australia. I have challenged our RDCs that, by 2030, we can reach No. 1, with the investment we continue to put in. This can become another pillar of agriculture, to reach that $100 billion, the new jobs of agriculture, to bring our young people home to agriculture—in the smarts of agriculture. This is an investment not just in agriculture but also in regional and rural Australia.