With not long left to get your submission in to the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper, minister for agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, is calling on people to have their say and give the taskforce their ideas.

“We’re looking for the big ideas. How we can create a stronger, more profitable agricultural sector in Australia,” Minister Joyce said.

“I want those who know agriculture best—our farmers, producers, rural business people, our exporters and importers, transport operators, educators, scientists—to take up this opportunity and let us know what we could change and what we could be doing better.

“In the past few months the white paper taskforce has travelled the nation, meeting in 33 places around Australia to talk to people face-to-face about the opportunities and challenges ahead for Australian agriculture.

“Written submissions are just as important in the development process, so I urge everyone who wasn’t able to meet with the taskforce to have their say before the submission period closes on Thursday 17 April.”

Australia's agriculture sector is an important contributor to the Australian economy and each year our farmers produce around $50 billion worth of food and fibre, and exports are valued at almost $40 billion.

“So far, there have been a good number of written submissions from farmers and others about the issues that directly affect their businesses like regulation, profitability, infrastructure and market access,” Minister Joyce said.

Many of the written submissions are being published on the White paper website.

Source: Minister for Agriculture. To view published submissions or to make a submission visit the White paper website here.