Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that he will announce more cuts to red tape within the food manufacturing sector over the coming month.
In an address to industry leaders on Wednesday, Abbott said that he recognises the importance of Australia’s food and manufacturing sectors, and that he will work with industry to remove any ‘burdens’ that are preventing manufacturers from prospering, ABC News reports.
"My commitment to you is to keep working with you to remove any of the burdens that are holding you back because I want Australia's food and grocery industry to prosper and succeed,” he said.
"We all need your industry to prosper and succeed.
"And I pledge myself to do whatever I humanly can to make that possible."
Abbott’s announcement comes days after the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) released its annual State of the Industry report which highlights the food and beverage manufacturing industry’s turnover, employment, international trade, capital expenditure and research and development. In the report, the AFGC has re-emphasised its call to reduce regulatory burdens.
During his address, Abbott also backed recent comments from agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce who said that Australia should be focusing on marketing its agricultural outputs as premium products rather than attempting to become Asia’s food bowl.
"Barnaby Joyce has put the case that the market opportunities of Asia are so vast that even if we doubled, tripled or quadrupled our production in fruit, vegetables, meat and groceries, we would still only provide a fraction of the needs for food in our region and Barnaby is absolutely right," he said.
"The market's there are so vast and the opportunities are so great that there really is unlimited potential for this industry.
Abbott said that Australia’s food and agriculture industry is vital to the nation’s economic future.
"You can't have strong communities without strong economies to sustain them and you can't have a strong economy without profitable private businesses."
Earlier this year, the Abbott government took a firm stance against a request from trouble fruit and vegetable processor SPC Ardmona who had been struggling to compete against ‘dumped’ imported products.
The processor had been promised $25 million in funding by the labor government following fears that the cannery would close without government assistance.