Parliamentary Friends of Soil group announced

A Parliamentary Friends of Soil group has been established, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister the Hon Michael McCormack, with the Hon Linda Burney MP acting as co-chair.

The group will bring together a bi-partisan forum for parliamentarians to interact with farmers, scientists, industry groups and policy makers on issues relating to health and maintenance of Australia’s soils.

The group was formed as a result of collaborations between the Soil CRC, Soil Science Australia and Soils for Life with valuable input from the National Soils Advocate’s Office.

The overarching objective is aligned with the national objective outlined by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison last year at the Bush Summit in Dubbo – to protect, restore and maintain the health of the agricultural landscape and to support a food secure nation and sustainable farming communities.

The group will promote the importance of healthy soil as a natural resource, and its contribution to Australia’s long-term economic, environmental and social wellbeing.

CEO of the Soil CRC, Dr Michael Crawford said “the formation of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil group is a fantastic opportunity for the Australian soil community to come together and help put the benefits of healthy soil and soil research on the political agenda”.

It is hoped that through this group, we will continue to bring issues associated with landscape management, soils and soil health to politicians and policy makers and that this group will provide a consolidated representation of soil related interest groups from across Australia.

The Parliamentary Friends of Soil Group is made up of ten MPs

• Michael McCormack – Riverina NSW
• Linda Burney – Barton NSW
• Meryl Swanson MP – Paterson NSW
• James McGrath – Senate Qld
• Hollie Hughes – Senate NSW
• Ken O’Dowd – Flynn Qld
• Susan McDonald – Senate Qld
• Tony Pasin – Barker SA
• Kevin Hogan – Page NSW
• Rick Wilson – O’Connor WA

We are planning an official launch at Parliament House in the near future, subject to COVID restrictions.