Daily London
Farm leaders have warned Australia faces a potential national food delivery freeze that could leave millions hungry in an ever-more destabilised world.
The NSW Farmers Federation has warned that Australia’s limited fuel reserves could come under serious threat in a potential global emergency.
Australia has just 22 days of diesel reserves, which could badly damage Australia’s food security amid continuing international trade turmoil, and leave producers with no way of getting food to shops and supermarkets – or even of growing it in the first place.
“Our fuel insecurity is the leak in the tank that could drain our nation of vital food supplies and export markets in just days,” NSW Farmers acting chief executive Mike Guerin said.
“One iceberg sank the Titanic, but a thousand things could stop our oil tankers from reaching Australian shores.
“And no fuel means no farm machinery, no tractors, no trucks – and that means no food on shelves, no food in shops, and no food leaving our shores.”
The peak farm body is calling for a new national program to monitor stocks of key agricultural inputs, such as fuel, to ensure food security.
Mapping of the supply chains that provide fuel and other inputs to the nation must be included within any new program to monitor stocks of these supplies, Guerin said, alongside an early warning system to alert the nation to shortages before it was too late.
“Farmers deserve to know when a shortage of fuel, fertiliser or another key input is imminent, so they can prepare accordingly,” Guerin said.
“The program should also be working actively to prevent shortages of these inputs, and have plans in place to relieve shortages, not if, but when, they occur.
“This isn’t about triggering panic buying but about preventing a national standstill in food supplies – and with 27 million hungry mouths to feed just in Australia, we just can’t keep risking it until the system fails.”
