COLIN BETTLES
29 Aug, 2011 04:00 AM
NSW Nationals Senator, Fiona Nash, says future food security is a major issue in Australia and around the globe.
But she is worried the Federal government has no vision on how it wants rural Australia to look in 20 to 30 years or the policies required to ensure food security is taken care of in 2050, when the world’s population increases by about 40 percent to 9.1 billion, demanding more food be produced on less arable land and with less water.
Senator Nash says Australia must also position itself to take full advantage of opportunities to feed developing nations, and not only ensure domestic food security is controlled.
“People pull down the shudders and say it will never happen and don’t think about this issue but it is entirely possible,” she said.
“If you look at the impact of foreign ownership, which we don’t fully understand, and the impact of mining on prime agricultural land, which we don’t fully understand, those factors must be taken into consideration when we map out and consider how we want rural Australia to look when those pressures come to bear in 20 to 30 years time.
“We need to understand all that better but to sit it aside and say, ‘let the market rip’, in my view, will have really terrible consequences.
“We need to understand what’s happening and make a plan for the future.”
Former Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, has also warned against discouraging foreign investment, not only for agriculture.
Speaking on Sky TV last Friday in addressing questions on coal seam gas mining in Australia and the impacts of selling farm land for mining purposes, in light of future food security concerns, Mr Downer said a sovereign risk issue was attached to the problem.
But he said Australia also had to be very careful “as a country….to remember that we’re part of the world” and not separate from it.
He said if Australia started acquiring a reputation for being an unappealing and unattractive and an overly regulated place to invest for mining industries and other areas, “we have the potential to do ourselves enormous damage”.
Mr Downer also said that damage may have already occurred.
He said China “more than any other single factor” pulled Australia through the recent global financial crisis through the resources sector.
But he said if the resources sector was taken out of the Australian economy today, “we’ll be in recession….so don’t ever forget that”.
“This is an industry that needs to be looked after and we need to encourage foreign investment in this sector as well,” he said.
NFF CEO Matt Linnegar said foreign investment had produced positive results for the agricultural sector over time, introducing capital that had otherwise been unavailable.
But he said thresholds and the extent of foreign investment needed to be clearly understood.
“We will wait to see what comes out of that report (ABS), but we don’t want there to be any disincentives for foreign investment,” he said.
Mr Linnegar says foreign investment is not about mining versus agriculture because it was possible for the two industries to co-exist.
But he said current rules and regulations made co-existence a challenge as farmers were not as well informed as they could be.
“When mining companies turn up on their doorstep, farmers don’t have the right tools to engage properly in some cases,” he said in regards to property access rights.
But Mr Linnegar said the broader issue was about addressing current policy settings and developing a long-term strategic approach to farmland use and food security.
“What do we want to achieve for mining, agriculture and all these areas?” he said.
NFF President Jock Laurie said there needed to be a greater understanding in the broader community about the importance of agriculture in meeting the global food challenge and to determine the role it wanted Australian agriculture to play in the years ahead.
“The NFF is calling for a national debate on the issue of food security and how our farmers are going to produce more food with less land, less water, less resources and less technology, while battling more droughts and floods,” he said.
“This will feed into the development of the NFF Blueprint for Australian Agriculture, which will outline the challenge, but also the opportunity, for Australian farmers to help provide a solution to one of the world’s most pressing issues: both at home and abroad.
“Now is the time to have a national public debate on the role agriculture needs to play in society, so that policies and decisions can be made without unduly affecting agricultural production now and in the future.
“It’s about ensuring a long-term future for an industry that, at the end of the day, feeds and clothes this nation and the world.”
SOURCE: http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/political/food-security-priority-nash/2268437.aspx?storypage=0
Friday, September 23, 2011 8:29 PM
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