Comments attributable to NFF President David Jochinke:
Today's roundtable was a constructive reset. The farm sector is ready to engage, and we welcome the Minister's commitment to finding common ground and progressing reform as a priority.
Farmers are stewards for more than half of Australia's environment, so it's vital they have a clear pathway to understanding their rights and responsibilities under the EPBC Act.
We've outlined practical priorities, such as streamlining consent processes at state and federal levels, protecting existing use provisions, and ensuring reforms support productivity.
We support sensible reform grounded in the Samuel and Craik reviews, and we welcome the Minister's willingness to work with us on biodiversity offsets. This is a chance to get the balance right.
There's broad agreement on the need for national standards, regional planning and certainty, but the detail will matter.
We'll keep working to ensure reforms are smart, workable and support the sector's growth to $100 billion by 2030.
