The below is the opening statement by National Farmers' Federation Interim Chief Executive, Su McCluskey, who appeared at the public hearing for the Inquiry by the Senate Economics References Committee on Friday 13 March.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear today.
I should note that in addition to being the Interim Chief Executive of the NFF, I am also a member of the CSIRO's Food and Agriculture Advisory Group, the Chair of the Crawford Fund for Food Security and a former CEO of the Council of RDCs and Regional Australia Institute, so my comments are based on a wide range of perspectives on the importance of public good research and development. I am also a farmer.
Today I want to highlight the importance of the CSIRO's continued contribution to Australian agriculture.
Australian agriculture has always met its greatest challenges through transformative innovation and historically, we have the CSIRO to thank for many such solutions.
Think about GM cotton, which was invented by the CSIRO and revolutionised the industry in Australia. Compared to 25 years ago, it now takes 50 per cent less water and 96 per cent less insecticides per hectare - as well as less land - to grow a bale of cotton.
As a farmer myself, I think of rabbit biocontrol such as calicivirus, which I saw released on my farm making a huge impact on the numbers of rabbits which were destroying my land.
Or Aerogard, which once again, is a staple on farm, after the hat and the sunscreen. And what about dung beetles another great innovation I see the benefits of every day on farm.
CSIRO has delivered time and again for Australian agriculture and in my previous role of Special Representative for Australian agriculture I was proud to talk about these great Australian agricultural innovations all around the world.
But as an industry, our capacity to respond to challenges and our capacity to innovate is under pressure.
Productivity growth in Australian agriculture has slowed since the turn of the century. And it is productivity growth that we need now more than ever, not just for agriculture, but for the country.
Public investment in the R&D that underpins agricultural innovation and productivity growth is stalling. In fact, we know public expenditure on research is dropping by almost 3% per year for the Australian government and almost 2% for state governments.
This is an unbelievable decision when you consider that for every $1 invested in agricultural R&D, there is an almost $8 return for Australian farmers over 10 years. Agricultural R&D is an exceptional investment in itself, let alone the flow-on benefits for communities, the economy and society at large.
For Australian agriculture to continue to succeed, to address 'next generation' challenges posed by food security, climate adaption and productivity, we need everyone in the system to play their part. Something that the impacts of the current conflict make so front of mind. It is this investment now that we need to make so that we can look to future-proof Australia from future shocks that can impact food security our environment and our economy.
We are fortunate in Australia to have a world-leading RDC system; we've got universities, private companies, and state and federal departments all delivering in ag innovation too.
But there is no doubt that CSIRO has played, and must continue to play, a unique and vital role in the agricultural innovation ecosystem. CSIRO has irreplaceable sovereign facilities like the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, vast institutional knowledge, and an important remit to deliver blue-sky and foundational research for the benefit of all Australians.
That's why the NFF urges the government to urgently deliver additional and sustainable funding to CSIRO – to stop job losses in areas that are crucial to the success of agriculture. Research units like agriculture and food, health and biosecurity, and environment.
We need to keep innovating and we need to maintain the shared commitment from industry and government to drive research and development.
And we need a well-funded CSIRO that can continue to support Australian agriculture.
Thank you.
