Federal Government policy pile-on is driving up farm business expenses

Australian food security is under threat by market forces impacting farm viability at both ends of the supply chain. Many farmers are receiving the same supermarket price for their product as they were 9 years ago, but they are under pressure from escalating input costs and a plethora of government policies making it harder and harder to do business.

Any general indifference at the notion of Australia being a food insecure nation, due to our high net exports, is a mistake. The most recent Foodbank Hunger Report notes that 23 percent of Australian households are severely food insecure – meaning meals are regularly skipped in two out of 10 households. Food insecurity is on the rise in Australia and as a community, we are faced with increasing health issues, many of which are diet related.

During the last 12 months, a range of new regulations have driven up on-farm costs. Some of these include the 5.75 percent increase to the national minimum wage, likely to increase to 8 percent, and Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme reforms that have increased costs by up to 15 percent. From July 1, farmers will be required to pay PALM scheme workers for at least 30 hours per week, regardless of whether they worked or not.

The Federal Government’s Closing Loopholes Bill, which passed last week, will make it harder and more expensive for farm businesses to create employment opportunities. The same legislation will enable union representatives expanded right of entry powers creating new biosecurity concerns.

This bill also introduces new laws limiting the ability for employers to contact workers outside of office hours. As many families continue to struggle daily with the costs of living and finding secure housing, why is legislating what is essentially a workplace cultural matter even a consideration? In a country as legislated as ours, is this new type of law even necessary and will it address the critical issues facing industry and community? This proposal is clearly an overreach, and an example of what people are simply calling “a policy pile-on”.

Generational farming families are considering leaving the sector, due to unsustainable margin squeeze, an ongoing skills shortage, rising input costs, an increase in rural crime, and the impacts of productivity slumping to a 60-year low.

QFF joins other agricultural peak bodies in asking the Federal Government to re-examine their workforce reforms through the lens of the agricultural sector, to better understand the impacts these laws will have on farm viability. For decades, industry has been asking for simplification of what is an increasingly confusing and complex industrial relations environment with enterprises large and small continuing to struggle to navigate the myriad of employment laws and requirements.

QFF asks the government to pause its rushed rollout of industrial relations policies and come back to the table with agriculture to find a way forward that will support farm viability and ensure food and fibre security for future generations.