Julie Collins speaking at the ag productivity roundtable.

MORE than 50 agriculture, government, industry and union organisations came together this week to discuss productivity in the agricultural sector, with the view informing an economy-wide roundtable later this month.

Several grain industry representatives were on the invite list, including Grain Producers Australia, GrainGrowers, Grain Trade Australia, GrainCorp, Freight & Trade Alliance, Cargill, CropLife, Cotton Australia and CBH Group.

Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the meeting will be used to feed into the government’s Economic Reform Roundtable later this month, highlighting the key role that agriculture plays in Australia’s economy.

“[Tuesday’s] roundtable was an important opportunity to reaffirm the Albanese Labor Government’s strong commitment to putting agricultural productivity front and centre,” Ms Collins said.

“We know that improving our agricultural productivity is good for our farmers, our regional communities, our national economy, and our trading relationships.

“That is why we continue to collaborate with our farmers and producers on ways we can enhance productivity, support economic growth, and address the challenges and opportunities in our agricultural sector.

“There were a number of constructive discussions…and I want to thank leaders from across our agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors for their contribution.”

GPA chief executive officer Colin Bettles said the roundtable provided “a very good opportunity” for industry to come together and raise issues directly with Ms Collins and Assistant Minister Anthony Chisholm.

“This forum gave GPA another proactive opportunity to continue reinforcing our key policy priorities,” Mr Bettles said.

“Anything we can do to improve our sector’s productivity and deliver better efficiencies and outcomes will generate direct benefits for the national economy – especially in key areas such as grain exports and trade, with greater supply chain capacity, to optimise value-capture opportunities in global markets.

“The proof of this process – especially in key policy areas such as fit-for-purpose regulations – will ultimately be in the size of the final productivity pudding, and how it’s shared across multiple beneficiaries.”

Supply chain opportunities

Roundtable attendees were invited to put together submissions detailing a wish list of priorities to increase productivity in the grains industry.

As an export-driven sector, supply chain improvements were a key focus for many of these submissions.

In its submission, GrainCorp called for a modernisation of Australia’s regional freight infrastructure.

GrainCorp managing director and chief executive officer Robert Spurway said inefficiencies in freight and logistics infrastructure, particularly under-investment in rural roads, short rail sidings, and port congestion, resulted in significant avoidable costs for growers and exporters each year.

“Our supply chain moves more than 60 million tonnes of grain annually, yet it’s being constrained by outdated infrastructure and fragmented planning,” Mr Spurway said.

“Improving first and last-mile freight and unlocking modal shift from road to rail isn’t just an agricultural issue, it’s an economic one.”

Grain Trade Australia’s submission called investment in the grain industry supply chain “critical to remain competitive into the future and to continue to deliver economic growth for Australia”.

GTA recommended a range of supply chain-focused changes, from sunsetting the Wheat Port Code, investigating the “indiscriminate allocation of costs” from container shipping lines to exporters, and the creation of a national strategy for a well-maintained, streamlined land-freight network.

Similarly, GrainGrowers called for federal road funding to be tied to gazetted road access, and for a streamlining of the Performance Based Standards road-access process to unlock productivity, improve safety, and reduce emissions.

Support for LCLF industry

There was also widespread support for government investment and policy changes designed to back a low-carbon liquid fuels (LCLF) industry.

GTA said a new domestic demand point for Australian grain would be a positive when considering the constant risk of global trade disruptions.

“GTA supports the government review, and the potential introduction of LCFL production in Australia.

“Creating new domestic demand opportunities for Australian grain is of benefit to the industry and the broader economy.”

As a member of the LCLF industry, GrainCorp called for a range of initiatives, such as the implementation of supply-side and demand-side incentives to support commercial-scale production.

It also called for the establishment of a national SAF certification framework to underpin sustainability and traceability, and the development of a national feedstock strategy.

Streamlining regulation

All submissions also pointed to ways to streamline or deregulate sections of the agricultural marketplace and supply chain to increase productivity.

The need to “reduce red tape” was one of six key recommendations from the National Farmers Federation.

The NFF called for an “evidence-based review of the cumulative burden of federal, state and territory regulation, and simplifying industrial relations laws”.

GTA recommended that productivity gains could be achieved through “industry self-determination/regulation”, mainly referencing the Wheat Port Code, as well as urging for greater alignment between industry and government policies and objectives.

GrainCorp argued that “regulatory fragmentation” such as “inconsistent road-freight access, rail-gauge differences, and duplicative project approvals” was adding to the compliance burden, stifling investment and responsiveness.

It called for a standardisation of many regulations from establishing a national harvest management scheme to reducing national and state approval overlaps and for rail access protocols to be standardised across the network.

Roundtable ‘disingenuous’: Littleproud

Federal National Party leader David Littleproud has labelled the roundtable disingenuous, saying that clear policies need to be put in place to help the agriculture sector.

David Littleproud.

“Labor’s agriculture roundtable…is disingenuous, without any outcomes, just a statement of platitudes from the minister about how important agriculture is,” Mr Littleproud said.

“If Labor really wants to protect and help our farmers, they should be proudly releasing their agenda and their outcomes and be transparent about the process.

“But Labor doesn’t want accountability because it knows their policies are hurting the agriculture sector.

“They have done nothing for productivity in agriculture and they know it.”

Mr Littleproud added he would have been prepared to work in a bipartisan way with Labor at the roundtable but was not invited as Shadow Agriculture Minister.