The Liberals and Nationals have today introduced a private members bill in the Victorian Parliament to protect the state’s most strategic agricultural land from being permanently lost to poorly considered development.
Shadow Minister for Agriculture Emma Kealy said the Planning and Environment Amendment (Agricultural Land and Food Security) Bill 2026 would ensure agriculture is finally recognised as the strategic asset it is, rather than treated as just another land use in Victoria’s planning system.
Victoria produces around 28 per cent of Australia’s gross value of agricultural production, with a farm-gate value of roughly $22 billion a year, generated by more than 21,300 farming businesses across the state.
“Once you sterilise or fragment high-quality farmland, you can never fully get it back,” Ms Kealy said.
“This Bill doesn’t stop development. It makes sure that when decisions are made affecting agricultural land, they’re made with proper agricultural expertise at the table, not as an afterthought.”
The Bill would establish a framework for identifying Strategic Agricultural Land, require Agricultural Land Impact Assessments for prescribed developments, mandate consultation with Agriculture Victoria before significant decisions are made, and require agricultural expertise on advisory committees and Environment Effects Act inquiry panels.
It would also strengthen rehabilitation obligations through mandatory bonds and monitoring, as well as establish a public register so Victorians could track the cumulative impact of development on farmland.
The Bill is the latest push from The Nationals to protect farmers, following on from announcements that they will also:
- Scrap the Emergency Services Tax
- Stop VNI West
- Review Victoria’s entire Transmission Plan
- Repeal laws that remove a farmer’s right to say no entry on their land
- Cancel fines issued by VicGrid
- Tackle farm crime
Ms Kealy said the reform was increasingly urgent given the mounting pressures on farmland from urban growth, renewable energy generation, transmission infrastructure, and extractive industries.
“Farmers deserve confidence that the long-term productive capacity of their land will be properly considered before it’s signed away,” Ms Kealy said.
“Regional communities deserve to know that agricultural expertise is genuinely informing decisions that affect their livelihoods, not just ticking a box.”
Ms Kealy said the Carroll Labor Government had consistently failed to give agriculture the weight it deserved in planning decisions, and that only an elected Liberal and Nationals Government would put food security and farming communities at the centre of the state’s planning framework.
“Labor talks about protecting Victoria’s food bowl, but their planning system still treats farmland like it’s expendable,” Ms Kealy said.
“The only way to protect Victoria’s agricultural land and to change the government is to vote for a Liberals and Nationals government.”
The Bill will be introduced and read for a second time in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.