The converging pressures of fragmented regulation and infrastructure constraints require priority government attention to boost grain industry productivity.
In its submission to Treasury ahead of the Federal Government’s Economic Reform Roundtable, GrainGrowers highlighted the need for a range of policy reforms to strengthen the productivity and resilience of Australia’s farming systems and supply chains.
GrainGrowers CEO Shona Gawel said the submission focuses on a range of practical reforms that are in the national interest.
Ms Gawel said a more productive and resilient agricultural system was an economic imperative and foundational to building long-term industry sustainability.
Priorities identified in the submission include:
- Legislate the right to repair for agricultural machinery to enable cost-effective maintenance and reduce barriers to competition, as supported by recent Productivity Commission findings.
- Streamline the Performance Based Standards road access process to unlock productivity, improve safety, and reduce emissions.
- Tie federal road funding to gazetted road access.
- Investigate the mandatory use of rotating beacon lights on trains and the deployment of Rail Active Crossing System technology to improve safety and reduce regulatory burden at rail crossings.
- Expand the definition of “primary producer” to enable equitable access to emerging income sources.
- Improve on-farm productivity by streamlining the migration system to relieve seasonal workforce constraints and unlock latent on-farm productivity.
- Improve bilateral agreements for vegetation management to reduce uncertainty and risk.
Ms Gawel said the identified reforms were in the national interest.
“Reforms in these areas would deliver high productivity outcomes for the Australian economy, while increasing economic resilience to the current volatile global trading environment,” she said.
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