Last week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the federal election for Saturday, 3 May. The call came just 12 hours after the Opposition delivered its budget reply to the Federal Government’s pre-election budget which received a lukewarm reception from most in the agricultural sector.
This election feels like a particularly important one for all Australians, but especially for Queensland farmers who have been heavily impacted statewide by several major flood events in 2025. The $28.8 million earmarked for disaster support in the Federal Budget over two years is a good start, but we need to do more.
Last week, parts of Western Queensland received their annual rainfall in just a couple of days, with flood records from 1974 being broken across multiple towns including Stonehenge, Jundah and Windorah. Stock losses and infrastructure damage are yet to be determined but are expected to be significant in the hardest hit parts of the region.
It has been pleasing to see the Premier and key Ministers visiting the region and promptly activating support for primary producers, small businesses and households for impacted Western Queensland communities.
Farmers and communities impacted in the Far North and Southeast Queensland continue to rebuild after earlier weather events, with many businesses now feeling the dire cumulative effect of consecutive heavy rains and flooding over the past few years.
Communities including the Burdekin, Mackay and Whitsundays received major flood warnings and localised flooding, and a number of farms were once again inundated across the Southeast in the wake of Alfred’s tropical low.
With all of these events occurring so close to the upcoming election the need for a long-term approach to building preparedness and improving risk management and response to natural disasters has certainly been emphasised.
Agriculture needs a Federal Government who are committed to getting behind our nation’s farmers, understanding their challenges as well as their vital contributions to the Australian economy, regional communities, the environment and our national food security.
It was positive to see the Federal Government announce a National Food Security Strategy. While the Feeding Australia strategy’s goals of ensuring supply chain resilience and minimizing price volatility are commendable, it is essential that any food security strategy is underpinned by an understanding of the dynamics at play on the food production end of the equation – including resilience, risk management, biosecurity, workforce solutions, land use planning, water and energy affordability, reliability and security.
These are all issues that must be addressed by the next Australian Government to ensure a productive and sustainable agricultural sector.
As we head into the final stretch before election day, QFF and our members will be looking to see all parties put forward sound policies that will make a real difference to our nation’s farmers. A long-term commitment to instant asset write-off eligibility for farm equipment would be a sensible place to start, following the downgrading of the incentive from $20,000 to just $1,000 after June 30.