Wednesday, 19 March 2025

 Ella GEORGE (Lara) (10:11): It is a pleasure to rise and speak on the recent Environment and Planning Committee’s inquiry into securing the Victorian food supply. I have spoken about the importance of this report in the house before, and again I would like to thank the chair the member for Wendouree; the deputy chair the member for Morwell, who I know did an excellent job on this report and made a very important contribution; and of course all the committee members and the secretariat for their important work in investigating how the Victorian government can continue to secure the Victorian food supply.

This report really highlights the impact that urban sprawl across Melbourne and in regional cities like the area that I represent in the northern part of Geelong is having on our food producers and the farming industry, and I touched on this in my last contribution on this report. But importantly, this report also highlights just how important the Victorian agricultural sector is to our state and in fact to Australia’s food security. The Lara electorate is an important part of this sector. We have many agribusinesses that work hard to ensure our food security. There are a couple of these that I would like to touch on today.

Just last week I saw this work in action when I visited MC Herd in Geelong. This is a family-run lamb and beef food processor. Herd is one of the largest employers in our region, with over 300 staff onsite. They were recognised as Victoria’s employer of the year in 2022 at the Victorian Training Awards, recognising their excellence in vocational education and training and their strong focus on quality assurance and sustainable practices. MC Herd are an integral part of Victoria’s food supply system, providing high-quality meat products that end in countless meals at homes and restaurants across the state. I am sure everyone in this chamber has had something from Herd before, whether or not you knew it. I know Herd’s liver is a particular favourite of my dog Blue.

Another local business that I would like to briefly touch on is Boomaroo Nurseries, which is one of the country’s leading vegetable seedlings suppliers. Their role is incredibly important in the agricultural sector, and they work hard to ensure that they have a reliable, quality product to offer growers.

Both of these businesses and many others across the Lara electorate and the state are working to ensure they are focusing on innovation and sustainability when it comes to being that important part of Victoria’s food supply system. The reason that I wanted to highlight these businesses is because this report speaks to their futures and the future of all agribusinesses across the state. This is an incredibly important time in which the report has been delivered by this committee in terms of thinking about Victoria’s food supply and our food security in the years to come.

I touched on this previously, but we all in this chamber know that there are some challenges when it comes to urbanisation and rapid population growth, particularly in Melbourne’s fringes. As I mentioned, this is something that we also experience in Geelong, in particular in the Lara electorate, where we have seen more and more houses being built to house Victorians. Sadly, the impact of that is sometimes we are losing important agricultural land that is feeding Victorians.

There is so much forward-thinking ingenuity out there, but it cannot be done by the sector, the businesses or the farmers alone. This is where the role of government and the role of this report and the recommendations it has made are just so important. One of the strongest things that has come out of this report is a recommendation that the Victorian government develops a whole-of-government Victorian food system strategy. Again, I commend the chair, the member for Wendouree, and the deputy chair for making this big, bold recommendation about what we need to do to secure Victoria’s food security future. Another important recommendation that this report made is:

That the Victorian Government consider establishing a Minister for Food with responsibility for the Victorian food system in its entirety …

This is something that I wholeheartedly support. I think it is a fantastic opportunity to look at food supply but also look at food security in people’s homes and food relief – the importance of making sure that every family can put a meal on the table – because at the end of the day that is what this report is about.