The agricultural sector and food system of Australia have thrived within a global regulations-based structure influenced by Western democratic principles. However, the assumptions, policy strategies, and economic frameworks that historically supported the food security of Australia are now inadequate.
Chronic challenges confront Australia and the Indo-Pacific region currently: escalating geopolitical rivalries, shifts in geo-economic dynamics, the impacts of climate change, diminishing water security, and rapid technological advancements. While efforts are being made by the government to enhance the readiness of the Australian Defence Force for potential conflicts in the region, there is a lack of coordinated preparedness in other areas, including the agricultural sector and food system.
The significance of food security for national security and the available policy choices to address national vulnerabilities are critical topics discussed in ASPI’s recently published National Food Security Preparedness Green Paper.
The green paper advocates that food plays a fundamental role in Australia’s national security and the stability and security of the Indo-Pacific region. The importance of food in upholding national security, as well as the prosperity of Australia and the region, has been overlooked by both civilian and defense sectors for an extended period. Given the deteriorating strategic landscape of Australia and its significant dependencies on fragile supply chains, there is an urgent need to reassess our food security and its implications for Australian security and regional stability.
Australia, heavily reliant on trade, exports around 70% of its food production while grappling with an underlying challenge of domestic food insecurity. Access to export markets is crucial for all stakeholders in the agricultural and food system to sustain profitability. However, Australia has for years outsourced the production of essential industry inputs in the name of globalization, assuming that the world would persist in an orderly rules-based system. Australia’s dependence on various imported critical inputs, including fuel, AdBlue (for diesel emissions reduction), fertilizers, and increasingly, labor, poses vulnerabilities.
Escalating regional trade tensions and military conflicts jeopardize Australia’s access to essential inputs for its food system and global markets. Recognizing the threats that lie ahead, the Australian government acknowledges that the traditional 10-year strategic warning time for conflict is no longer feasible. Enhancing Australia’s self-sufficiency in food production is now as crucial as bolstering defense capabilities and enhancing national resilience.
Concerning food security, there are two primary challenges: Australia’s reliance on fragile supply chains in the agricultural and food systems and a limited understanding of this vulnerability, leading to a lack of clear mitigation plans.
As depicted in the figure below, post the global financial crisis of 2008, at least 20 academic papers, reports, and inquiries have underscored the significance of Australia’s food system and its vulnerability to external shocks.
Timeline illustrating reports on Australia’s food system.
Despite these analyses, food security has not been prioritized at a national level, resulting in inadequate policy responses.
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the extent of Australia’s vulnerability to lengthy and fragile supply chains and how international system shocks could disrupt them.
Subsequent disruptions, with varied domestic impacts, have occurred since then. At the moment, a devastating flood calamity is unfolding in rural Queensland, claiming 150,000 livestock and continuing to rise. This disaster will have enduring repercussions on rural communities and the region’s capacity for food production. Preceding this, supermarket shelves were left barren in regions impacted by Cyclone Alfred a month ago. Additionally, there have been repeated outbreaks of Avian Influenza in southern Australia.
On March 4th, the government committed to developing a National Food Security Strategy if re-elected. This marks a crucial initial step in acknowledging food security as a specific policy priority. It seems probable that the opposition will also endorse this initiative to some extent. Irrespective of the composition of the forthcoming government post the May 3rd election, immediate action backing this National Food Security Strategy is imperative.
Australia must perceive its agricultural and food system as an integrated food security ecosystem rather than a disjointed supply chain. Similarly, the significance of food security must be elevated to a national security priority at both departmental and ministerial levels. To accomplish this, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry should be designated as the lead agency responsible for food systems and food security readiness, with its minister becoming a full permanent member of the National Security Committee and its secretary being integrated into the Secretaries Committee on National Security.
The 14 policy recommendations outlined in this green paper serve as a call to action: Australia must implement a National Food Security Strategy with preparedness as its immediate focus, responding urgently to the deteriorating strategic circumstances we face.
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