For the good of all Australians we need to rethink Australian agriculture

Environmental problems are also reaching crisis point. Dryland salinity now affects about five million hectares of Australian land. Along with other soil and water problems, this costs the economy about $2 billion per year in rectification programs and lost productivity. The Australian Conservation Foundation and the National Farmers Federation recently produced a joint report suggesting that $60 billion of public and private capital will be needed over ten years to fix the land.

Yet 70 per cent of farmers surveyed three years ago thought that taxpayers should carry the responsibility of paying for environmental remediation and that farmers should be compensated for any loss in farmers' rights as a result of improved environmental management.

Financial hand-outs to some farmers artificially lift farm prices, preventing the land consolidation which would promote better environmental management, and better economic outcomes.

The government's obsession with agriculture is also a handicap to the export success of the rest of the economy. Attempts to get a better trade deal for farmers are worth some effort but the potential benefits of agricultural trade liberalisation are so unlikely and so limited they do not justify the huge effort now devoted to them.

The Reid Group advocates the formation of a Rural Assessment Commission. This expert and independent agency could assess the long-term viability of regions and recommend economic and socially viable futures.

Governments should withdraw all support from the remaining single desk marketing authorities.

Rural subsidies should be reassessed and those that survive should be quantified annually.

Drought relief should be limited to the social welfare program and put on the same basis as applies to all other Australians who are in need of income support.

True liberals should be outraged at this endless largesse being directed towards the privileged agricultural sector.

Real reform would produce more efficient farms and a better environment. Taxes would be better spent. Communities and individuals would thrive when fear of change was replaced by a planned transition to real economic and environmental sustainability.