Comments attributable to NFF Horticulture Council Chair Jolyon Burnett:
As we enter the closing stages of the 2025 Federal Election campaign, it is good to see both major political parties-Labor and the Coalition-recognising the critical importance of the horticulture sector to Australia's food security, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability.
The NFF Horticulture Council's election platform, "Feast or Famine," outlines a comprehensive strategy to secure the future of our industry, and it is encouraging to note significant commitments made by both parties aligning with it.
Our leading commitment request, for a comprehensive National Food Plan, providing for the food security, including nutritional security of the nation and its people, has been picked up by both Labor and the Coalition.
Labor has pledged to develop a national food security strategy, "Feeding Australia," which aims to address supply chain vulnerabilities, support sustainable agriculture, and provide greater certainty for both farmers and consumers.
Similarly, the Coalition has committed to developing a comprehensive National Food Security Plan, which will support food producers, lower costs across the supply chain, and ensure fairness from the farm gate to the supermarket checkout.
These commitments reflect a shared understanding of the need for strategic leadership to safeguard Australia's food system.
Both parties have made positive comments about the importance of stopping pests and diseases at the border, and cutting regulation and red tape, without matching specific requests made by the Council for more permanent biosecurity funding and taking action to better understand the cumulative compliance burden that horticulture is currently shouldering.
On other parts of the Council's platform, there is less alignment and coherence between the commitments of major parties.
The Coalition remains clearly ahead in terms of their support for creating safe, skilled and productive workplaces with clear commitments to reintroduce an Australian Agriculture Visa and keep backpackers as part of the mix of seasonal labour supply.
On fair, affordable food, both parties have backed in tighter regulation of fresh produce supply chains, but the Coalition has gone furthest in their commitment to introduce divesture powers to act as ultimate sanction for gross and malicious breaches of market power by supermarkets.
Neither party has made commitments we believe are necessary to support the long-term viability of the sector around access to the latest crop protection technology or national programs to promote either the increased consumption of fresh Australian-grown fruits, vegetables and nuts or raised awareness of the proven health and well-being benefits associated with access to natural greenspaces.
With roughly a third of the electorate not expected to vote for either major party, the policies of minor parties is increasingly important. As the largest and potentially most influential of the minor parties, the Council has welcomed strong alignment between its requests and positions taken by the Australian Greens, particularly on the regulation of supermarket trading practices and the sustainable funding of biosecurity activities.
This coming Parliament, the horticulture industry and the Council on its behalf will be working collaboratively across the politic spectrum to get the setting in place we need to ensure Australia is sowing a future feast and not famine.
About the Horticulture Council
The Council is the recognised peak body for forming policy and advocating on behalf of the national horticulture industry. Established in 2017, it now comprises 19 national commodity and state-based horticulture bodies.
It is a member of the National Farmers' Federation, free to establish and advance its own policy positions and responses issues impacting the horticulture industry.
