Another government; another report …

This week Federal Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce announced the terms of reference for a White Paper on agricultural competitiveness. This was a central election commitment of the Coalition prior to the election. The Minister says he is excited about the White Paper – and he wants you to be excited, too.

I’m not there yet, I have to say.

Incoming governments often go into ‘report overload’ in the early days of their first term and commission a plethora of reviews and plans about grand long-term goals and strategies with wide-ranging (and occasionally sensible) recommendations. Each of these provides an opportunity for a ministerial announcement that makes it look like they’re doing something, without actually having done anything yet.

An article in the mainstream press this week listed a total of 54 reports, white papers, royal commissions, major reviews, minor reviews, inquiries etc announced already by the new federal government. Many of these, including this one, are of relevance to the agriculture sector.

Unfortunately, enthusiasm within government generally wears off before implementation, especially if the results are not quite what they wanted; and industry quite quickly becomes jaundiced by over-consultation and under-delivery. Almost without exception, by the time the next election rolls around, most of these reports and reviews have either been forgotten or buried.

Remember the former Labor Government’s Food Plan, dubbed by the Coalition as “a plan for a plan”? That didn’t last long. Some of you may even remember the Corish Report Creating our Future – agriculture and food policy for the next generation, before that, commissioned by the Howard Government in 2006. Seven years is a very short generation.

Local farmer Ian Sauer was a one of a number of very experienced and savvy experts on the Corish Report reference panel and the group produced a sound report with some robust recommendations. I (and many others) did get excited then. However, disappointingly, very few of the recommendations were progressed in any coherent way before it disappeared after the change of government at the 2007 election.

However, if we can put our past baggage behind us and all engage with open minds, a new approach may present us with a valuable opportunity for future industry growth.

An innovative and vibrant agriculture sector leads to better returns to farmers, which leads to more jobs, more investment and healthier regional communities.

Increased competitiveness means a focus on both farmer profitability and the farm and wider sector’s productivity as we must ensure that our farmers are not only producing more food and fibre to meet growing world demand, but are doing so in a way that makes them, and the wider sector, more profitable and sustainable.

There is no doubt that our farmers remain among the most innovative in the world. And experts are all agreed there are considerable opportunities for growth in agriculture at the moment.

Deloittes identified agriculture recently as one the nation’s five key growth sectors. In Tasmania, agriculture has outperformed all other sectors year after year; and it has been repeatedly tagged as one of our state’s future strengths. However, the approach to achieving this potential has sometimes been less than strategic and almost always less than unified.

Improving returns at the farm gate and achieving a fair reward for effort are things every farmer is crying out for.

However, those changes can only happen with the right policies and strategies in place. Realistically, the government can only get these settings right if industry becomes engaged in the planning process, too.

It is good to know that Mr Joyce has confirmed that the White Paper will build on the Blueprint for Australian Agriculture developed over the past two years by the National Farmers’ Federation. This should ensure the white paper builds off the comprehensive process undertaken in development of the blueprint. It should also deliver alignment with what is recognised as a successful industry-owned process.

Personally, I’d also like to see the white paper pick up on some of the learnings from previous reports – especially the Corish Report recommendations – rather than spend valuable time and scarce resources starting yet again from the ground up.

If we can see that this can be done, even I might put aside my cynicism and become just a little bit excited. If that view spreads, people will jump on board and ensure this does not become just another report gathering dust on the shelf.

Further information on the White Paper process is available here: http://agriculturalcompetitiveness.dpmc.gov.au/