As in 2019, the polls tip Labor as favourite, but will that be right?
On labour, the Coalition will continue to support our Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme to sign up countries to the Australian Agriculture Visa Program, building on the agreement with Vietnam while continuing to work with Pacific Island nations. Labor aims to focus more specifically on the Pacific Islands, including on an agricultural visa that provides portability and protections for workers.
On biosecurity, the Coalition - while being encouraged to do more by many in agriculture - does have a clearer plan than Labor, which says it would deliver a long term funding arrangement, but doesn't provide a breakdown of what that might look like.
Labor says it will "get Inland Rail back on track". While lacking specifics, this comes after the 2021 parliamentary report, "Inland Rail: Derailed from the start", which highlighted cost blowouts under the Coalition from $4.7 billion to $20b by project's end.
The Coalition promises $250 million for refinery upgrades to support fuel security and did provide $29m to Incitec to ramp up its AdBlue production late last year, but, Incitec said it had made the decision to cease manufacturing at its Gibson Island site near Brisbane by the end of this year, meaning a long term solution to AdBlue is yet to be found.
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On water, Labor has a five-point plan "to safeguard the Murray Darling Basin - upholding the Murray Darling Basin Plan", and wants to establish a national water comission to help deliver on water commitments, including the 450GL for South Australia. Alternatively, the Coalition has been non-committal (also see p17).
Labor promises $5m over three years for the Regional Australia Institute and $16.7m for a new agri tech hub in Richmond, with a focus on developing a sustainable approach to future peri-urban farming.
The Coalition also aims to create tax incentives for farmers to engage in carbon and biodiversity markets, and will provide $113m for Australian Plant Proteins to develop industrial scale, end-to-end pulse protein ingredient manufacturing capabilities in Australia.
On the whole, the Coalition tends to demonstrate more depth of understanding of rural issues and operational detail, but who wins will also depend on broader issues such as defence, health, aged care, infrastructure (including dams), climate and disaster recovery.
Andrew Norris
Editor at The Land
Editor at The Land
