context
The convergence of the traditional food, energy and industrial sector towards a bioeconomy will have serious implications for society. Policymakers will have challenging decisions to make and will need to be aware of the compromises required. Governments will face challenges in the development of regulatory frameworks, new infrastructure investment, and investment in R&D to capture the benefits.
Australia’s supply of food and energy is critical to its future. Global scientific developments, the risk of climate change and the push towards environmental sustainability will have a major impact in our lifetimes on traditional food and energy production, with consequences for Australia that are at the limits of comprehension and beyond the capabilities of any one sector of the economy.
Australia is relatively removed from much of this debate and we risk being left behind. The significant developments occurring in global markets demand strong and direct action by both the corporate and government sectors to ensure the transition of rural and regional Australia to a dynamic bio-economy for the 21st century.
The Project builds on the work of the 2007 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration which reported on Australian manufacturing: today and tomorrow, Inquiry into the state of Australia’s manufactured export and import competing base now and beyond the resources boom.
In a democracy, investment can be influenced and indeed driven by government policy and this has been a traditional feature of modern Australian government. However, the existing policy and R&D models are incapable of dealing with the drastic changes that are rapidly occurring around the world and that will have a major impact on our agricultural sector and our entire economy. The impacts will be across the whole of society. This is not a matter for consideration solely by the agricultural sector, it is a matter for every sector of Australian industry.