Agriculture's export achievements and growth goals are at odds with the reality of Australia's vulnerable position in the global supply chain and a general ignorance of critical gaps in the network at home.
"Our issues are far more significant than people understand and what is being represented," warns the chief executive officer of the Australian Logistics Council, Hermione Parsons.
"The reality is that we are an island nation with a small 26 million population on the backside of the planet.
"We're an end destination port on a relatively minor international shipping route."
The past year's flood damage to road and rail routes nation-wide and a fast ageing freight sector labour force were also big risks and long term costs for the farm sector, the community and the national economy.
Addressing a trade session at the evokeAg agritech conference in Adelaide, Dr Parsons said despite intense lobbying by the freight sector, no government had been greatly interested in supply chain or freight logistics issues or their risks to the economy which her organisation had warned about well before the COVID pandemic struck in 2020.
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Alarm bells about workforce shortages, disconnected infrastructure planning and railway lines which did not link with ports were also largely ignored.
The chooks came home to roost when a multitude of COVID-related disruptions left Australia at the mercy of lengthy shipping and port logistics delays, extreme freight and port cost rises and 98 per cent of air freight movements suddenly grounded at the start of the pandemic.
"We're an island nation. Everything we export or import must travel by air or sea," said Dr Parsons, making a case for much more co-ordinated expert planning and greater self-sufficiency in manufacturing and food value-adding.
Australia had become somewhat arrogant and heavily reliant on what had proven to be unreliable global supply networks.
"In reality, we are not part of the influential east-west trade routes between big city nations and we don't have any control over the shipping industry or air freight, or shipping prices or the cost of fuel," she said.
COVID's freight disruptions had underlined our dependence on overseas-made goods - everything from face masks and vaccines to factory equipment and farm machinery parts was stalled in transit, while global geopolitical tensions had also halted or slowed our exports and inflated cost pressures.
Fuel - a major contributor to supply chain costs and farmers' expenses - was now about 36 per cent more expensive than in 2021.
We have very serious issues we need to talk about ,and plan for, to survive the future
- Dr Hermione Parsons, Australian Logistics Council.
"We cannot rely on other countries for critical, critical things required by Australian households, businesses and our economy," Dr Parsons said.
"We need to be honest with each other.
"We are not over COVID yet and we have very serious issues we need to talk about, and plan for, to survive the future."
Fellow panellist in the evokeAg forum, SunRice managing director, Rob Gordon, agreed global supply chains had become so lean and fragile, countries his company traded with were now spooked by shortages caused by COVID and Ukraine war they were hoarding food and fertiliser stocks.
He said valuable export and import partners, including China, were key players in Australia's supply chain, yet "not necessarily our best friends at the moment".
"We need to find a good selection of other markets that may not turn against us."
Drought in Australia and the US had also convinced SunRice to source widely to future-proof its exports into 60 markets - grain and packaged products were now sourced from 12 different countries.
Waking up
Dr Parsons said while federal and state governments had now abruptly woken up to the critical role of supply chains, Australia still needed skilled people with a real knowledge base and involvement in the sector to share their experience and guide the turnaround.
"People who really work in this space, not just those who talk about it or have opinions, understand the complexities and interdependencies involved," she said
Priority areas where Canberra could make a big improvement to efficiency, safety and cost cutting included harmonising regulation and supply systems across state borders; a big focus on interconnected rail, road and port infrastructure, and planning a common decarbonisation pathway for the domestic network to utilise common electric or hydrogen-powered equipment and services.
She looked forward to the soon-to-be-released federal government review of the much promoted inland rail project and potential for the findings to foster greater "interconnected freight harmony and network resilience".
Since the pandemic hit there had been a much closer connection between the federal government and the logistics sector.
Notable was the rapid success of the International Freight Assistance Mechanism, instigated by a freight sector and government war cabinet determined to get exports moving, particularly perishable farm produce and critical medical and industrial imports.
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Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
