6 Aug 2026
Last week I was in Brisbane to welcome onboard QFF’s new CEO Kylie Porter for her first week in the role. Kylie has hit the ground running, meeting with her counterparts at QFF’s peak body member organisations to explore the opportunities and challenges facing their industries.
As we all know, the agriculture sector is full of ambition and innovation, but to maintain momentum and achieve the sector wide policy outcomes required to safeguard future generations of Queensland food, fibre and foliage production, strong leadership, and collaboration are essential.
That is why it was also great for Kylie and I to join QFF’s Water and Energy Policy Committee (WEPC) last week, where we received an update on our members’ top priorities across these essential farm inputs – including the uptake of the 15% water rebate for eligible irrigators and the Queensland Competition Authority's review of the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) proposal, among broader conversations around rural water and energy pricing, and water scheme infrastructure and investment.
The WEPC was also pleased to host and receive policy updates from the leadership teams of Sunwater, Seqwater, and Energy Queensland as well as Queensland Minister for Local Government and Water the Hon. Ann Leahy MP, who spoke to the Queensland Government’s water policy priorities, and in particular the need to unlock water from regional plans for agricultural use.
Following the committee meeting, QFF hosted a networking event with QFF’s WEPC members, peak body members, corporate partners, including Sparke Helmore and Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise, and industry stakeholders to continue the conversation and explore opportunities to improve water and energy outcomes for Queensland farmers and regional communities.
It is an exciting time for Kylie to join QFF, as we lead into the 2026 Ekka festivities, including QFF’s annual Celebration of Queensland Agriculture event which takes place next Tuesday, 11 August. This is a long running and important event in the annual Queensland agricultural event calendar, and QFF thanks Sparke Helmore and Attuned Talent as event sponsors for their continued support.
This year’s event will be hosted at Parliament House, where guests look forward to receiving an update on state and national agricultural issues from Queensland Minister for Primary Industries the Hon. Tony Perrett MP and the President of the National Farmers’ Federation Hamish McIntyre.