Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Ciccone, someone who I know has a very deep and longstanding interest in the agriculture industry in our country. Well, today, Senator Ciccone, I have good news for Australian farmers, farm workers and all in the agriculture supply chain. Today's latest release of data from ABARES shows that the agriculture industry is well on its way towards its goal of exceeding $100 billion farmgate output by 2030. In the last financial year, the agriculture industry reached the $90 billion mark—an all-time record—and I congratulate every farmer, every processor, every worker and supply chain member for this achievement.

This was done off the back of what were, with some exceptions, great seasonal conditions, which have meant record farm cash incomes for broadacre and dairy farms over the past two years. But, of course, the context to this is that input costs for farm businesses are rising, impacting farm profits. Years of failed energy policies and chronic underinvestment in skills development have come home to roost. As a result of this and global factors, agriculture input costs have risen sharply since mid-2021, particularly the price of fertiliser, which has more than doubled, putting intense strain on farming businesses to balance the books. That's why the National Reconstruction Fund is so important. We need a future made in Australia, and that applies to agriculture just as much as every other industry.

We should be value-adding, and we should be making more things here. The ability to make things here is vital to not only reduce input costs but also increase the value of the final product that our agriculture industry rolls out. And that's exactly what the National Reconstruction Fund will do, co-investing with industry, including agriculture, to grow our primary industries and turn raw products into even higher value ones. The Albanese Labor government wants Australia to be a country that makes things again, and we are backing our agricultural manufacturing industry to ensure that that happens.