I was delighted to meet with a group of farmers from the advocacy group Farmers for ClimateAction in Parliament House today.
I congratulated them for their advocacy and I congratulate the National Farmers Federation for embracing them.
Agriculture is the sector most dramatically affected by a changing climate and to put our farmers on a path to sustainable productivity and profitability, we must do more on both the mitigation and adaptation fronts.
We also need to embrace market-based mechanisms to ensure our water and soil resources go to the uses which provide the highest possible return for our nation and our farmers.
Labor began this work in Government. Our market-based approach to carbon mitigation funded a range of programs on the adaptation and natural resource management fronts. The current Government un-did all that good work.
We embraced a market-based approach to the management of the Murray-Darling Basin, ensuring optimal resource allocation and providing a future for farmers for generations to come.Now, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce wants to unravel that plan.
I look forward to working with all those who are focusing on a sustainable and profitable future for Australias food and fibre sector.