By Tim Findlay
Australia’s economic productivity is finally on the front burner this month, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers convening the much-vaunted Economic Reform Roundtable to find ways to get the country moving forward again.
With living costs rising, persistently higher interest rates , and productivity sliding — eroding standards of living — this summit is overdue. But unease lingers: will genuine reform emerge, or will competing interests focus on who pays the bill?
Meanwhile, agriculture — the sector that earns the first dollar of the economy — has held its own Unlocking Productivity in Australian Agriculture Roundtable, hosted by Agriculture Minister Julie Collins in Brisbane.
Six Clear Priorities from the Paddock
The National Farmers’ Federation arrived with a sharp, member-driven agenda for targeted reform in six areas:
- Taxation – Make the Instant Asset Write-Off permanent, keep trust and super tax treatment stable, and ensure tax settings drive investment.
- Competition – Extend unfair trading protections, act on the ACCC supermarket inquiry, and deliver a right-to-repair for farm machinery.
- Research & Development – Boost public investment in high-return ag R&D, streamline AgVet regulation, and speed innovation from lab to paddock.
- Trade – Expand Southeast Asian market access, secure FTAs with the Gulf Cooperation Council, EU and India, and cut non-tariff barriers.
- Infrastructure – Reinstate the Roads of Strategic Importance program, reform freight approval processes, and upgrade key rail corridors.
- Reduce Red Tape – Drive a national deregulation agenda, review cumulative regulatory burdens, and simplify industrial relations laws.
This is about removing structural bottlenecks — reforms that would deliver lasting productivity gains.
The Government’s Half Measures
Minister Collins has announced funding for climate-smart agriculture, ag-tech trials, and biosecurity upgrades. Useful, but incomplete.
Tax reform? Absent.
Right-to-repair? Missing.
Major infrastructure reinstatement? Not on the table.
Comprehensive deregulation? Still distant.
The government is funding projects; the NFF is calling for systemic reform. Without structural change, gains will be piecemeal.
The Four-Day Week Distraction
While agriculture pushes for deep reform, the ACTU used the Canberra roundtable to promote a national four-day week — 80% of the hours, 100% of the pay, with unchanged productivity.
In some sectors, it’s a legitimate discussion. In agriculture, it’s a fantasy. Seasonal and weather-driven work can’t be compressed into fewer days.
Flexible arrangements might work in non-production roles, but only if connectivity, labour supply, and regulatory barriers — all on the NFF’s list — are addressed first. Without those, the four-day-week debate is just noise.
Productivity Is Not a Slogan
If “productivity” becomes a fight over hours and pay, the real task is lost. True productivity means creating more value with the same or fewer inputs. For agriculture, that means certainty on tax, fair competition, strong R&D, open markets, reliable infrastructure, and less red tape.
The NFF has given the government a clear blueprint. The question is whether the Albanese Government will act — or stick with announcements that avoid the harder work of reform.
Until then, Australian agriculture will keep doing what it always has — working harder and smarter than most, but still with one hand tied behind its back.
