I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
I also want to acknowledge today the fact that it is Vietnam Veterans’ Day, a really important day in our calendar.
And I acknowledge the presence and pay my respects to all of the veterans who might be with us here this evening.
I want to acknowledge as well the Leader of the Opposition, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins, the Minister for Environment and Water, Murray Watt, and other parliamentary members who are with us this evening.
I also acknowledge National Farmers' Federation President, Hamish McIntyre, and CEO, Mike Guerin.
It is fantastic to be here, and what a great thing to actually celebrate and commemorate the achievement of an objective in advance.
And too often we sort of slide past it to "what's next?"
But it is important to pause and take time, and to give thanks to this rather extraordinary achievement, or overachievement, which is what we want to see.
So, to Mike and Hamish, you've done a remarkable job leading the sector through what has been a difficult period.
And to the people who were here as well, leading the NFF over a long period of time.
I've been here throughout that time and have always had a very good relationship.
I value collaboration and working together in the national interest across the range of issues to make sure that Australian agriculture and farm production can continue to grow in size and strength.
And it is an extraordinary achievement for the Australian agriculture sector to now officially grown into a $100 billion industry.
Set the goal in 2018 – with a consensus to get it done by 2030.
So, it’s extraordinary that that has been achieved by 2026.
But the sector has surged ahead.
Not just growing – but thriving.
Meeting that $100 billion milestone a whole four years in advance.
That number represents the substantial growth of Australian agriculture, right across the board:
The grain sector – up 128 per cent.
Cattle – up 83 per cent.
Sheep – up 70 per cent.
Horticulture – up 59 per cent.
An overall sector wide increase of over $42 billion over that period.
And importantly, that number is not a ceiling.
It is a mark of the potential that is there for the Australian agriculture sector and its capacity to continue to grow.
To contribute more to our nation.
To back in the future of our shared prosperity.
And that economic success, of course, doesn’t just happen by accident.
It is a product of hard work, driven by the people in this room, driven by the innovation, energy and constant hard work that makes this industry turn, year after year.
The planting, pruning, picking and cropping.
The shearing, droving and milking.
The seasonal rhythm of a sector that provides such abundance for our nation – and indeed, for the entire world.
Because the fact is that the world wants what Australia produces.
Our food and our fibre.
Our red meat and wheat.
Every type of fruit and vegetable grown under that bright Australian sun.
Because it is our way of doing things – our reputation for quality – that marks out the words ‘Australian grown and made’ as an unrivalled measure of excellence.
Paired with the unique position of our continent sitting as we are, at the centre of the fastest growing region of the world in human history.
We are well placed to build on our success and seize new opportunities as they emerge right across trade and agriculture.
That’s why we have worked so hard to expand Australia’s trade partnerships and market access right across the board.
Securing the best possible deal for Australian agriculture and Australian consumers.
Together, we have worked to open up new and expanding markets through trade, including the deals with the European Union and the UAE.
We’ve opened up Australian trade to 40 new markets and we’ve restored access to 19 that were previously lost.
In addition, we have continued to invest in the strength of our relationships with our long standing partners like Indonesia, India, China and the United States.
And investing those relationships, coming together to put forward our position, has certainly paid dividends.
That opening up of trade will only continue to drive the jobs, technology and collaborative spirit that has cemented Australia’s standing as a great primary producing nation.
But for all of that success, for all of those opportunities, what really sets Australia apart is how we manage disruption.
How we shape change in our national interest, while building our resilience for the future.
The world today is more complex and connected than it has ever been.
As change comes at us, we cannot press the stop button.
We have to work to shape that change as it occurs.
Because no country and no economy has been immune to the impact of the overlapping global shocks that have occurred since this target was set, which makes its achievement even more remarkable.
We had, of course, the Global Financial Crisis before that, but then COVID, which disrupted markets.
We had in more recent times as well, significant disruption, including this year since February 28, the disruption to our global fuel supplies.
As a Government, what we have done is work with the NFF and other organisations to make sure that that fuel security was maintained, that diesel, in particular, was available to the agricultural sector, so that people could plant with confidence that they’d be able to harvest that yield.
So that, as well, it must be said, one of the reasons why we were able to be successful is the fact when I went to Singapore and Brunei and Malaysia, when I spoke to our neighbours about our need to secure supplies, part of what that debate and discussion was about between our friends, was we are a reliable supplier.
Brunei and Singapore depend upon our food bowl.
Their food bowl is right here in Australia.
And what that meant was that the security of fuel was able to be achieved.
Today, we have more fuel in Australia than we had at the outbreak of the war on February 28.
It’s a remarkable achievement being done, working with organisations like the NFF, working with the private sector, to deliver that outcome.
In addition to that, we were able to secure supplies of fertiliser, including from Brunei, but particularly, additional fertiliser from Indonesia.
That’s a direct product of the relationships that we’ve built.
The fact that President Prabowo directed effectively Indonesia, for all of its excess to come to one country, this country, to look after our interests, because Indonesia knows that they have a friend in Australia.
And that is a reciprocal relationship that was absolutely critical in achieving what we’ve been able to do.
In addition to that, we had the issue of the trucking sector, which is so important for your industries to get product to market.
And we were able to pass legislation making sure that around the supply chains that there were fair payments, so you didn't have a disruption in the transport sector, which would have been devastating.
So, as it is, the Middle East conflict, of course, unfortunately continued.
But we're going better than anyone thought we would, it must be said there were calls before Easter for there to be rations of fuel at that time.
In addition to that, of course, we've now been hit with bird flu.
And again, we're working with the sector, working across the Parliament in a bipartisan way, working with the farmers to make sure that at this stage it is not having an impact on our agricultural sector.
But we know that it is a risk, and we're doing everything that we can to make a difference there, including the $130 million investment that we've made in the preparedness for the H5 bird flu.
We're also looking to the future in other areas, investing in a government owned 1 billion litre strategic fuel reserve and growing Australia's biofuel and low carbon liquid fuel industry.
We want to expand opportunities for farmers to turn Australian grown sugar and canola and other byproducts into Australian made fuels, this would benefit our nation's fuel security.
It would lower emissions, and it makes a difference for the agricultural sector as well.
We think that can make an enormous difference going forward.
These changes that we will make build on the consistent investments we've made as a government to strengthen our biosecurity framework.
That is obviously critical.
We've put in $2 billion since 2022, part of making sure we can continue to say we have the best products and the safest products in the world coming right here from Australia.
With those investments, we're backing vital industries like our ag sector to build our nation up.
And together we're making our resilience as a feature of our national character and our national industries.
Because that is the way that we manage challenges in Australia.
Acting together, supporting those who need assistance here and now, but always keeping an eye on that horizon, making sure that we build our capacity and grow our success in the future.
That's how we can set Australia for future generations, and how we can deliver long-term opportunities for the farmers, fishers, foresters, and agricultural workers of today and tomorrow.
So, the role that you play in that future will be crucial.
I have every confidence that together we will make it a success.
Congratulations once again on the historic milestone.
And very much on a personal note, I don't come from an agricultural background. It was just cement where I grew up.
I want to thank personally the many farmers who welcome me onto their property, educated me, who've been reached out and engaged so constructively over my time, not just as Prime Minister, but well before this, over a long period of time.
It is a great privilege that I have to get to see every bit of Australia and every part of Australia that contributes to the whole.
There's no sector that is more important than the one I'm looking at right now.
You provide sustenance no matter where people live, and you make such an enormous difference to our national economy.
You make me proud, which I am every single day, to be Australian.
Thank you for what you do.