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Speeches

Tuesday, 5th April 2022

Building a Better Future for Rural and Regional Australia

NFF 2022 National Conference - Sustaining the Nation

The NFF website features a video invitation from Fiona Simson, speaking from her farm on the Liverpool Plains.

Fiona explained that the conference would examine serious challenges facing your industry in areas like trade and workforce issues.

But she also celebrated “the huge opportunities in a reduced-emissions future’’ and spoke with a sense of positivity about the need to work hard to maintain strong and vibrant regional communities.

Fiona’s enthusiasm says everything about the farming sector in this country and about regional Australia more generally.

You are, above all, optimists.

You have more than your fair share of challenges. A tough climate. Drought. Bushfires. Floods. The vagaries of commodity prices and international trade arrangements.

But as an industry, you meet challenges head on.

You just get on with it. You adjust. You look for the positives and opportunities.

In 2022, after three years of economic disruption from natural disasters and the Covid pandemic, Australia needs your optimism and positive approach more than ever.

We need your engagement on trade and workforce issues.

And we need you to lead the way in seizing the huge opportunities that come with the shift to cheap, clean renewable energy – a shift the current government has tried to ignore for a decade.

These opportunities are vast. Value adding. The rise of new industries driven by cheap, renewable energy. New jobs in regional Australia.

Labor supports the NFF’s ambitious goal to grow the value of Australia’s agriculture industry to $100 billion by 2030.

And given your great record of innovation and scientific development, starting with the stump-jump plough close to 150 years ago - I’d back you to achieve that aim.

But your task will be easier with a government that shares your ambition to think ahead.

Today I want to talk about Labor’s plans to help farmers and regional Australians play their part in building a better future for our nation.


MAKING THINGS

Late last year, when I released Labor’s Powering Australia Plan, I was delighted to hear the NFF join a range of other business organisations to offer their approval.

Labor’s plan to embrace the use of cheap, renewable energy will create 604,000 jobs.

Critically, our comprehensive modelling shows that five out of six of those jobs will be in the regions, where they are badly needed.

Our plan will leverage $52 billion in private investment and cut family power bills by $275 a year by 2025.

The current government has ridiculed renewables for years and failed to land an energy policy after more than 20 attempts.

They just can’t cope with change. It terrifies them.

By contrast, Labor sees the shift to renewables as an opportunity for Australia, including for farm exports.

We seek to shape change to our national interest. To imagine a better future and work with the community to make it a reality.

The farm sector is already well placed, with Australia blessed to be located in that region of the world that is experiencing the strongest economic growth in human history.

We can expect ongoing demand for your bulk commodities as well as opportunities for exporters of agricultural technology and services as countries all across the world grapple with lifting their agricultural productivity.

While bulk exports continue to represent a large slice of our agricultural exports, there is increasing excitement about prospects of greater demand for high technology, value-added food, and other agricultural products.

That’s where renewable energy comes in.

Renewable energy is not only clean, but cheap. As its use increases, it will lower the cost profile of manufacturing in this nation.

This, coupled with increasing mechanisation, changes the equation when it comes to business models for Australian manufacturing.

This makes me extremely optimistic about the future for manufacturing that adds value to our food and fiber exports.

I have said many times Australia should be a nation that makes things again.

But I’ll add this: We should make things in Australia using the food and fiber we produce in Australia.

Labor’s National Reconstruction Fund is designed to help drive this shift.

The fund will provide loans, equity and guarantees to investors establishing new businesses or those recovering from the stress of the Covid pandemic.

Today I announce that Labor will reserve $500m of funding within our National Reconstruction Fund specifically for Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Food and Fiber.

This will encourage investment in value adding and growing exports. It will help diversify the sector and open up new possibilities for trade.

And it will help create more jobs in the regions. 

In addition, this commitment will support the sector as you prepare for a low carbon future. 

I see a future in which we not only grow demand for bulk exports, but process more of that produce in regional centres where new businesses will add value for domestic sale and export. 

Outside of agriculture, the National Reconstruction Fund will target new ventures in advanced manufacturing, the defence industry, and renewable energy technology like wind turbines and electric batteries.

The key to capitalising on these changes is understanding the importance of the shift to renewable energy – something that the current Federal Government has resisted for nearly a decade.

Labor’s vision is for a future made in Australia – a manufacturing revival – not just in the big cities, but particularly in the regions.

Labor’s vision is for a future made in Australia – a manufacturing revival – not just in the big cities, but particularly in the regions.

More manufacturing. More value-adding. More jobs.


NBN

One of the key responsibilities of any national government is to give people access to the communications connectivity they need to compete in a fast-changing world.
 
That’s why Labor’s decision to establish a National Broadband Network rightly took a long-term view of the needs of Australians, regardless of where they lived or worked.
 
It was about overcoming the tyranny of distance across our vast continent, as well as our globe.

Our vision for the NBN was focused on building a better future, and it was about expanding opportunity.
 
The fibre to the premise NBN model was about business, but it was also about giving Australian families the maximum benefits of the broadband age in areas like education and health.
 
Yet at every step along the way the Liberals and the Nationals opposed it, and bought 60,000 kilometres of outdated copper wire instead - enough to wrap around the earth one and a half times!

In doing so they denied 2 million premises in regional Australia access to world class fibre connectivity.
 
The cost of this second-rate NBN model has now blown out by at least $28 billion.
 
Instead of doing it right, doing it once, and doing it with fibre, the government is now starting a patch up job.
 
A Labor Government will do more.
 
We have already announced our plans to ensure that 80 per cent - or 3.7 million - homes and businesses in regional and remote Australia will have access to broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second or more by 2025.
 
This includes expanded fibre connectivity to 660,000 premises, faster fixed-wireless speeds and upgrades benefiting 750,000 premises, as well as increased satellite data allowances.
 
And today I am announcing our Better Connectivity for Rural and Regional Australia Plan.
 
This is a comprehensive, targeted plan that will ensure better mobile coverage on roads, on farms, and across regional communities - and better broadband too.
 
We’ll commence an independent national audit of mobile coverage to identify mobile blackspots and the places most in need of coverage upgrades.
 
This will be delivered through an innovative partnership to place mobile signal measurement devices on Australia Post’s transport assets — a great example of leveraging our public assets for public good.
 
Labor will expand multi-carrier mobile coverage in regional homes and businesses, as well as along roads and highways – because we know people in rural Australia often travel long distances and need to be connected for both convenience and safety.
 
We will also invest in place-based connectivity programs for the regions, including better mobile voice and data coverage, and targeted fibre upgrades in rural communities.
 
And importantly, we will be expanding connectivity for farmers and enabling better wireless extensions on the field.
 
This is critical to modern agriculture, and making sure Australian farms are as efficient and competitive as they can be.
 
It will mean many of you – and farmers around Australia – will be able to employ new sensor technology to monitor the health and movement of cattle on large stations, or identify metrics that determine the precise amount and types of fertilizer required for crops.
 
There are many exciting developments in farming technology, that can boost efficiency and productivity. But they aren’t worth anything if you don’t have access to reliable connectivity.
 
There is no excuse for Australian farmers to be left behind because they can’t access technology that would make their lives easier and improve their bottom line. 

Labor will make sure the connections you need are available.
 
In addition, today I commit to boost funding for the innovative Regional Tech Hub, an excellent program managed by the National Farmers Federation.


INFRASTRUCTURE

Getting produce from paddock to plate, or from shearing shed to ship, requires first-class roads and rail to move it.

As many of you know, my ministerial background includes the portfolios of infrastructure and transport – areas that are critical to your sector.

If Labor is successful in next month’s election, you will find in me someone who understands the critical relationship between productivity-enhancing infrastructure and the success of your industries.

I don’t just talk about it. I understand it. And I have a record of delivery, I doubled the roads Budget. Built or rebuilt 4,000km of rail freight line.

Which brings me to the importance of getting it right when it comes to the Inland Rail freight line from Melbourne to Brisbane.

Let’s be clear: it was Labor, with myself as the Minister for Transport, that allocated the first real funding for this project - $900 million to progress the project to construction stage.

My judgement at that time was that this was the type of project which, delivered properly, would underpin decades of economic prosperity and growth.

Nearly a decade later, it is clear Inland Rail is not being delivered properly.

As is the pattern of this government, they’ve always been there for the photo-op, but never there for the follow-up.

Despite dozens of media events and big announcements over nine years, we have only 133km of new track in the middle of NSW – about 15km for each year this government has held office.

I suspect that if you laid all the Government’s media releases about Inland Rail in a row, the trail would extend further than the completed track.

The truth is that the route is not finalised. It does not actually terminate at the port of Brisbane, but 38km away at Acacia Ridge

They have had almost a decade to get this right. Once again, big promises, no delivery.

Instead of building the hype about Inland Rail, Labor will do the hard work to get this project back on track.


TRADE

We also need to get more serious about trade diversification.

We all know of the difficult situation with our exports to China.

There’s no doubt our trade relationships have been affected by global political positioning as China seeks to aggressively assert its power.

There is no justification for the trade restrictions China has placed on our exports.

Australia should never compromise on our values and China must stop this coercion.

It reminds us of the need to seek out more trading partners.

Indonesia and India are clearly important priorities, as are Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.

For several years, the government largely ignored the 2018 Varghese report – which it commissioned – that outlines a blueprint for how Australia can boost its trade with this rapidly growing nation of more than one billion people.

India’s share of Australian exports dropped below 2 per cent, the lowest level since 2003.

While we welcome the recently announced trade deal with India, it remains a partial deal driven by an election timetable, and we must do better.

We also recognise recent moves to refocus on follow through on the Varghese report, but we are asking ourselves why it took so long. 

In light of the urgent need to diversify, precious years have been lost.

Labor will support the agricultural sector to develop consistent codes around sustainability so you can access and grow global markets – especially in Europe.

Australia has some of the most sustainable farm practices in the world.

It’s a reputation we should make the most of as markets increasingly want clean and green products.


WORKFORCE

Wherever I travel around Australia, employers tell me of their struggle to find workers.

The closure of international borders due to Covid has, of course, exposed the full seriousness of our labour shortage by denying us access to overseas workers.

Skills shortages have profound effects on your sector and right across the national economy.

We will tackle the national skills shortage by funding 465,000 fee free TAFE courses and up to 20,000 extra university positions in areas of demonstrated workplace shortage.

We’ll train up the next generation of builders, bricklayers, and electricians, as well as nurses, aged and child carers and engineers.

I know skills shortages are acute in rural and regional Australia.

It’s hard to find workers, from fruit pickers to shearers, to agricultural scientists and wool classers.

It is clear the Morrison Government’s Ag Visa isn’t working.

The Nationals promised the Ag Visa would fix everything. But not one worker has arrived. None. Zip. Zero. 

And the Ag Visa will be capped at 1000 people a year - far short of what’s needed. 

The Pacific Labour schemes will remain the primary program for agriculture workers, but we must acknowledge that there have been problems with the treatment of workers by some farmers.

I know these are isolated cases. But bad eggs give the rest of the sector a bad name.

Labor will work with you to stamp out the exploitation of workers in the sector, and to get the workers you need on farm.

Beyond farm workers, skills shortages have a profound effect on the vitality of the regional communities that serve our agricultural producers.

Whenever I see media reports about how cities lack enough teachers, doctors, nurses and aged care workers, I remind myself that it is even more difficult in regional Australia.

And I think about how the quality of life of people in the regions is affected by labour shortages across the board, particularly in service areas like health, education and aged care.

Easing labour shortages is critical if we want genuine decentralisation.

If we want people to stay in regional areas, or to move to them from capital cities, we have to train up enough Australians to undertake the careers that are so critical to quality of life.

It’s never going to be easy.

But with one and a half million Australians unemployed or underemployed, we must get back into the business of skills training.

It’s not enough to say it’s all too hard and just rely on overseas workers on temporary visas.

Labor will also give your industry a direct say in the nature of skills training.

We’ll create the independent Jobs and Skills Australia to work with industry, unions, and training providers to match the skills being taught with those actually needed by industry, not just today, but in the future.

As the needs of industry change, the nature of training must also change. And the people who best understand these changes are the people who own businesses, including farms.

Jobs and Skills Australia will be modelled on the independent Infrastructure Australia which I created in 2008 to bring an evidence-based approach to the assessment of proposed road and rail projects.


HOUSING

Finding workers with the appropriate skills is one thing, but another challenge in regional Australia is housing them.
 
We need to take action on regional housing. Last year capital city housing prices climbed by 21 per cent. 

In the regions they jumped by 26 per cent, and in some places even more. 
 
Labor will create the Housing Australia Future Fund to build social and affordable housing now and into the future including in regional centres. This will create jobs, build homes, and change lives.
 
In addition, we will help 10,000 Australian families a year in regional areas to buy their first home. The Regional First Home Buyers Support Scheme will triple the number of places that Australians living in regional areas received last year under this Government’s existing programme.


HEALTH

Another key to quality of life in regional Australia is a properly resourced health system.

Labor created our nation’s universal health system.

We will always back Medicare.

And you can bank on a Labor Government strengthening our Medicare system across the board, including by making it easier to see a doctor, wherever you live.


NATURAL DISASTERS

People on the land understand the extremes of weather.

Floods, cyclones and bushfires are part of your lives.

But there is a role for governments to help communities with projects that mitigate the severity of natural disasters.

In 2019, the Government created the $4 billion Emergency Response Fund, to invest in disaster relief and mitigation.

But it has barely spent a cent from the fund. It treats it like a term deposit.

A Labor Government will replace it with a Disaster Ready Fund. We’ll use that fund to invest up to $200 million a year on mitigation projects.

We’ll do more than just hold a press conference about disaster mitigation. We will get to work with real investment where it is needed.
 

CONCLUSION

Let me finish with a very clear statement about my view of national leadership and the role of government in the life of our nation.

I believe in the power of individual enterprise. I am not a person who wants government to get in the way of businesses.

Good governments facilitate market activity.

But I don’t follow the approach of my opponents, who seem to believe that if only governments would get out of the way, the market will sort everything out.

I see a role for government in making it easier for businesses to succeed and to ensure that Australians get the services they need and the opportunity to get ahead.

And I believe the path to achieving those aims is collaboration. Division, which is the current government’s preference, leads us nowhere.

So if my team is successful in the upcoming election, you can be certain about one thing: I will work with you.

I know farmers and the NFF want what everybody else in this country wants – a better future.

I look forward to our ongoing engagement.

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Electorate Office

334a Marrickville Rd
Marrickville NSW 2204

Phone: 02 9564 3588

Parliament House Office

Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: 02 6277 7700

Phone: (02) 9564 3588
Fax: (02) 9564 1734
Email: A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which our offices stand and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge the sorrow of the Stolen Generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We also recognise the resilience, strength and pride of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Authorised by Anthony Albanese. 334a Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204.

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