Wednesday, 4 March 2026

 Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (10:42): Today I am rising to speak on the Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee report into the security of Victoria’s food supply, the impact that population growth has on our farming industries and the availability and accessibility of arable land. This was an inquiry that examined an issue that is fundamental to every Victorian: food security. It surprised me that the government felt compelled to undertake such a study. Call me cynical, but it is not because the Allan Labor government actually care about farmers or food production; it is probably more to look good and look like they are doing something. But it did not surprise me that much of the focus was on the urban fringes of Melbourne and the large regional cities like Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong, because people in South-West Coast, who contribute an enormous amount to agriculture, often feel very overlooked, and this study probably did not highlight the value of agricultural land and the challenges and stresses that are upon it, causing food security issues into the future that should also be scrutinised and highlighted, with policy developed around them. South-West Coast punches well above its weight – I say that in this place often when it comes to agriculture in particular – and contributes enormously to the economy and food systems.

The committee’s findings confirm things that farmers have been saying for years and years: that Victoria produces a significant proportion of Australia’s food, much of it export oriented, and remains the largest food- and fibre-exporting state by value. Victoria accounts for around a quarter of Australia’s total exports despite occupying only a small proportion of the nation’s landmass. It is not just impressive; it is strategically important. One finding stood out to me in particular, and that was that the governance and policy approach to agriculture requires a strategic agricultural review if we are going to secure our food supply into the future. As someone who spent decades advocating for agriculture, both as a farmer myself and as a representative on industry boards and committees, this is not only a recommendation that is long overdue but one that we called for consistently for decades.

For more than 10 years, though, in this chamber, I have watched legislation pass with little evidence that this is a government that truly does recognise the value of agriculture. In fact we have seen agriculture disappear, even, from the department title. What was once the Department of Agriculture is now the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Farmers get really frustrated with the fact they are working so hard and they are not even valued enough to be in the title of a department ‍– a department that really does need to be supportive of farmers and developing policies to recommend to government to actually make sure that we progress in agriculture and do not go the other way. We have seen the agriculture department have its resources stripped, the ability to do the research and –

Steve Dimopoulos interjected.

Roma BRITNELL: Yes, absolutely. The amount of staff that have gone from the agriculture department in the last two years is significant, and the member across the chamber disputes that. Well, if you just talk to the staff in there, I am afraid that is absolutely the case. The ability to deliver and support on-farm programs, such as how to grow grass effectively and how to fertilise effectively so you are protecting the environment, has absolutely been changed.

Farmers do not ask for special attention, they ask for understanding and partnership. Look at the effect of our bad roads on farmers; farmers talk to me about this all the time. Why doesn’t the government realise how important the roads are for the government to get its taxes? The food grown in South-West Coast must travel on regional roads, and as we move towards the processors and ports and global markets to which the products must go, the roads are deteriorating. The transport costs rise because trucks are getting damaged and that costs money to fix, so production costs increase, and that makes Victorian producers less competitive internationally before the products even leave our shores. It is a missed economic opportunity. Investment in our roads is not a cost; it is an investment that strengthens productivity, exports, tax revenue and regional communities. Governments benefit from agricultural success, and logic suggests that benefits should be reinvested.