The economic crisis caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted enormous damage on Australia’s economy. Agriculture and regional Australia have a critical role to play in restoring Australia’s prosperity, and the National Farmers Federation (NFF) is recommending simple steps that government can take to get Australia growing.
Get Australia Growing was created by the NFF in consultation with its members and industry. Read the full paper here.
The document makes 35 recommendations to fuel growth including calls to:
- fast-track 20 new Regional Deals
- reinvigorate regional manufacturing
- create a $1 billion Biodiversity Stewardship Fund
- slash red and green tape
- fix the Murray Darling Basin Plan
- get our regions digitally connected, and
- help us get more people into jobs in agriculture.
The opportunities outlined in the document have been chosen for their capacity to provide a rapid boost to a farm sector recovering from years of drought, devastating floods and the more recent bushfires. The priorities put forward in the document are based on existing NFF policies and aim to stimulate new activity and employment in Australia’s agricultural sector. The NFF is of the belief that the road to recovery begins in the bush and that government policy must recognise this.