NSW Farmers’ is urging the Australian Government to commit to a plan to drive productivity through the agricultural sector and get the economy back on track ahead of a national economic reform roundtable today.
NSW Farmers’ President Xavier Martin said scrapping the super tax on unrealised gains, boosting mobile coverage and developing laws to protect farm data were just some of the solutions farmers had put forward to the roundtable in a call to fix the nation’s productivity woes.
“Farmers also want to see the federal government closing the loophole on tax advantages for foreign investors purchasing Australian farms or water by applying the same taxation requirements as Australian businesses including withholding taxes.” Mr Martin said.
“Australian agriculture is the powerhouse that feeds and clothes the nation, but current settings are threatening our food security and holding us back.”
“Our ruined roads are holding up food that needs to get from paddock to port, our telecommunications aren’t good enough to do business and we’re staring down the barrel of a potential tax on money farming families will never make.”
“Meanwhile, we don’t have the right to our own farm data, or the legal right to repair our own farm machinery using an independent repairer – and together, all of these challenges are really stacking up,” Mr Martin said.
Further investment in agricultural research and development and a permanent instant asset write-off scheme for small businesses were also among NSW Farmers’ recommendations to the roundtable to improve productivity.
Prime Minister Antony Albanese said the roundtable will bring together leaders from the business community, union movement and civil society to work on making the Australian economy stronger, fairer, more productive and more resilient into the future.
“These discussions will be informed by nearly 900 submissions from experts, industry leaders and individuals and over 40 forums that Ministers have held right around the country,” Mr Albanese said.
“This process has brought forth a wide range of views on everything from deregulation to tax reform. This healthy public debate has also made it clear there is substantial common ground on many issues – and that is where the immediate opportunities lie.
“Australians understand this is a time of significant global economic uncertainty. Yet for our nation this is also a moment of profound opportunity.
“Because when you think about the big changes underway in the world: the shift to clean energy, the economic transformation of the Indo-Pacific, the race for new skills and knowledge and the rise of new technologies like AI, there is nowhere else you’d rather be than right here in Australia,” Mr Albanese said.
