Australia’s long-overdue conversation on food security is finally gaining traction, with a new Green Paper from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute declaring food security a matter of national security.
In this latest column, Robbie Sefton explores how the paper’s 14 bold recommendations - including elevating agriculture’s voice in federal security discussions - could reshape national policy. As global volatility rises, it’s a critical moment to future-proof the systems that feed and clothe our nation.
24 April 2025
Insight from: Robbie Sefton
The issue of Australia’s food security has gained more prominence recently, and not before time. In good news for the agriculture sector, and the nation as a whole, more voices have been added to the call for a national food security strategy, echoing a long-term plea from the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF). In a column last month, I referenced the NFF’s election wish-list and the fact this strategy was one of its priorities to ensure we retained the means to feed and clothe our population in the face of growing global uncertainty.
Now, we have the National Food Security Preparedness Green Paper from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which strongly argues “food security equals national security”.
“Food hasn’t featured as a priority in the public versions of the Defence Strategic Review or the National Defence Strategy. This has created a gap in Australia’s preparedness activities: if Australia’s national security and defence organisations are preparing for potential conflict, then Australia’s agriculture sector and food system stakeholders should also be preparing for this period of strategic uncertainty,” the Green Paper’s authors say.
It makes for sobering reading, putting in very clear terms just what’s at stake and how critical it is to not only have a strategy in place, but to have effective and practical measures that can quickly and easily adapt to changing circumstances. And there’s no doubt, that even in just the past few weeks, the global environment is changing rapidly and nations are being forced to address some hard, and unsettling, truths.
Among the key objectives of the Green Paper is to stimulate discussion and present new policy options, and as part of the document there are 14 recommendations. One is that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry should be a full member of the National Security Committee of the federal cabinet, ensuring “food security risks and strategic vulnerabilities are recognised at the highest level of government decision-making”. Another is that the Office of National Intelligence (ONI) should conduct a regular assessment “of the threats to Australia’s food security ecosystem to inform public- and private-sector preparedness activities and priorities”. These alone emphasise just how seriously the issue is viewed.
The Green Paper makes the point we currently produce enough food to feed more than 70 million people, but many factors that enable that level of production are vulnerable to external, and internal, forces. The one thing Australia has always done well is food and fibre production, thanks to our space, environment and expertise. But what the Green Paper wants us to know is that we have taken this for granted for too long and failed to put the safeguards and mechanisms in place that will perpetuate our ability to do this into the future. Our agricultural exports are big contributors to our economy, and now more than ever it’s important to consider how to protect and grow these markets amid significant volatility.
This document makes for fascinating reading, addressing all the factors that influence our food security both here and abroad. Even something as fundamental as reducing waste – it’s estimated about one-third of all food produced in Australia is lost or wasted annually – will “strengthen food security, reduce emissions, alleviate inequity and enhance national resilience”. But all of these factors are intertwined and it’s ineffectual to address one without considering others. Sometimes we can be guilty of thinking our relative isolation insulates us from what’s happening beyond our borders, but recent events show us we are not immune and we can only hope that this Green Paper is getting the attention it deserves, and demands.
