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and one of the many issues the plan will consider
is food productivity and efficiency. The
productivity and efficiency of our whole food chain is affected by
the confluence of really broader economic policy;
the regulatory, the environment and essential infrastructure
the adoption of innovation and the cost and availability of input -
such as land, water and labour.
For nearly every minister across this government
- and the departments which they administer - some form of regulation
which impacts on our food production and the strength of our food industry
whether it is regulation of our
agricultural and vetinary chemicals, the transport system, protection of the environment
or a taxation law and its administration -
they all have a combined effect on that food
plan and the food chain, the food supply - right through
from our export market to our internal market.
The National Food Plan will identify what regulations currently exist
- whether any of that regulation is unnecessary
duplicative or, quite frankly, operating at cross purposes -
identifying and removing surplus regulation
or regulation which is impeding the food security
and productivty of this nation - which has the potential
to impact significantly on the cost efficiency of
food proudction. The food plan will also consider
increased productivity through the adoption of innovation.
This part of the plan will be informed by work that has already begun
by the Productivity Commission and Abares among others
on research & development extension.
The flow on benefits from a stable and growing food production sector
are enormous. At the strategic level,
Australia enjoys a food security equation that is the envy of
many nations - but we have the resources in the form
of land, water and capital - and we have the knowledge
experience and skills to feed our population, whilst continuing
to provide a key food source for the world.
It is my expectation that the National Food Plan
will strengthen this potential by identifying further
opportunities for government to create an environment which will ensure
the long term sustainability and growth of our food
production. Looking at the next steps
for government in the coming months, I will develop a paper
which will outline the key issues affecting our food food chain
and of course deal with some of the questions
- but also look forward to the answers from
the people who will contribute to the food plan.
The input that you provide on this paper will inform
the Government's development of the food plan
We do want to hear from a wide range of stakeholders
and I encourage all of you to engage in that process so that
we have a cross section - not only from the people
in this room but more broadly from the sector as well.
I'd encourage, of course ...
in the coming months that you engage with my department about how we
can improve that discourse.
Government and industry have a joint role
to play in increasing Australia's
agricultural productivity into the future. By supporting
innovation and innovative farming
techniques, investment in research & development
is vital for increasing the productivity of Australia's
agriculture and food industries. The Government contributed
around 220 million in funding to research & development
corporations in the last financial year.
The Government is keen to ensure that when we are supporting
research & development in our primary industries it is
appropriate, it's effective, it's efficient - we're getting value for money
and it's well targetted. To start
a formal discussion on the Government's role in research & development, the Government
asked the Productivity Commission to conduct an enquiry into
the rural RDC, including and examination of the
appropriateness of current funding levels and arrangements for
driving productivity improvements through research & development.
As I'm sure many of you would all be aware, the
Productivity Commission released a draft report in September 2010
The draft report acknowledged that the RDC model has important
strengths, including helping to ensure that public money
is not spent on research of little practical value
- and facilitating greater and faster uptake of our research
outputs. The Government's response to the Productivity Commission's
report is important for a number of reasons - but we will
wait for that before I
go that point. Did we want to break at this particular point?
... Alright, that might be helpful.
If we could now
pause to remember the victims of the Christchurch earthquake
Thank you everybody.
The Government's response to Productivity Commission's report
is important for a number of reasons.
First, reasearch & development is about the long term prosperity of
the sector - and changes to rural R&D framework will
have a long term impact and consequence.
And second, as minister, I do understand the wide range of groups who will be affected by
the report - from peak lobby groups
to the existing RDCs, through to the agricultural
producers specifically. This means
the Government needs to consult widely on the final recommendations and I will
be undertaking that over the coming months. The Commission's
report is not the only document the Government will consider
when deciding its position on research & development. The National
Rural Research & Development Council has been working since 2009
to develop further Australia's research & development
and extension vision for the rural sector. The
Council released a draft National Strategic Rural R&D Investment
Plan in January for consultation with stakeholders
and it is now considering the feedback before finalising its report
which will be provided to me by
the end of this month. From these activities it is clear
that the Government has placed a high priority on rural R&D
and is committed to continuing the work to increase
productivity across the agricultural sector.
It is essential and it continues to remain
so for the agricultural sector to deal with the many
challenges that it has in front of it. It is
essential for this sector to meet those 21st century challenges
including climate change and an increased global
population. Today the rural industry's Research & Development
Corporation will also release two further reports
to the Government which will taken into its
consideration on this issue. The first is the Agricultural Productivity
Concept, Measurements & Factors Driving It
Report. It's a non-technical report that is designed
to help our farmers better understand trends, productivity data
produced by the Government and the driving forces of
productivity. The second report,
investigates the role of innovation adoption
in Australia's agriculture and it provides a framework
and awareness of the drivers of productivity growth.
I'd encourage all here to take an opportunity of reading those reports.