New laws are being considered to protect Australia’s fertile farmland from being swallowed up by suburban sprawl, as growing concerns emerge about the nation’s long-term food security.
Independent federal MP Andrew Gee is drafting new legislation to safeguard world-class agricultural land that is increasingly being converted into housing developments and parking lots.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Potential solution to protect Australia’s farmland
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow
“This is the land that feeds and nourishes us, yet we’re building houses and parking lots on top of it,” Gee said.
Currently, 57 per cent of Australian land is used for farming, producing enough food to feed the nation’s population three times over.
However, 70 per cent of that produce is exported overseas to countries including China, Korea, Japan, the United States and Indonesia.
The agricultural industry is worth more than $100 billion to the Australian economy, with fruit and vegetables delivered fresh to markets daily forming part of the nation’s economic lifeblood.
“We have a responsibility to provide affordable food for all the countries around us,” National Farmers Federation President Hamish McIntyre said.
Fears are growing for Australia’s food security. Credit: 7NEWS New laws are being considered to protect farmland from urban sprawl. Credit: 7NEWS The sector is already under pressure from extreme weather events, global trade challenges, and fuel and fertiliser supply issues. The loss of prime farmland to urban development threatens to drive up food costs for Australian consumers.
But some scientists believe the solution lies not just in protecting existing farmland, but in changing what Australians eat and how food is produced.
Biophysicist Professor Johannes Le Coutre says that as the global population heads towards 9 billion people by 2050, more meat will need to come from laboratories rather than livestock.
“It might be one element, and we might be exploring and seeing more as we go along,” Le Coutre said.