This bill is currently before Parliament.
Climate, energy & environment
People holding prime agricultural landLand rated high, very high or extremely high for farming on the named national capability map. — land rated high, very high or extremely high for farming — must keep it in agricultural use.
Andrew Gee, the independent MP who introduced the bill, said housing, industrial projects, mining and renewable-energy developments were taking over high-quality farmland. He argued this threatened Australia’s ability to feed itself. He said agricultural production had grown 34 per cent over 20 years to $82.4 billion in 2023–24 and was forecast to reach $95 billion in 2025–26. He also said agricultural exports were worth $77.2 billion in 2024–25, or 15.1 per cent of Australia’s goods exports.
Australia entered 2026 without federal legislation specifically protecting its best agricultural land, while earlier reporting found that the country’s food security was uncertain and Andrew Gee MP argued that urban sprawl and renewable-energy projects were encroaching on prime farmland. On 23 March 2026, Gee introduced a private member’s bill to keep land rated high or above on the national capability map in agriculture, allowing existing non-agricultural uses to continue only without expansion and linking land protection to food security.
The included debate contains no clear argument against the bill. Andrew Gee instead criticised local councils, state governments and the major federal parties for failing to protect farmland. Bob Katter of Katter’s Australian Party supported the bill and argued that development should use Australia’s abundant non-prime land.
Andrew Gee MP introduced this bill. Supportive speeches so far have come from Katter's Australian Party, LNP, some crossbench members.
Did it become law?
Not yet
Final passage
No final vote yet
The bill has not yet completed passage through Parliament.
Days since introduction
137 days
Updated 07 Aug 2026.
Meaning
People holding prime agricultural landLand rated high, very high or extremely high for farming on the named national capability map. — land rated high, very high or extremely high for farming — must keep it in agricultural use.
People buying prime agricultural landLand rated high, very high or extremely high for farming on the named national capability map. must ensure it is not used for anything other than agriculture.
Landholders with an existing non-farming use may continue it, but they cannot expand that use.
Landholders who end an existing non-farming use must return the land to agriculture.
Australian governments cannot rely on laws that would move land already used for agriculture into another use.
Government bodies must follow the bill, and its rules extend to Australia’s external territoriesAustralian territories outside the mainland to which the proposed law would extend..
prime agricultural land means land that is classified as extremely high capability land, very high capability land or high capability land on the National Agricultural Land Capability Map by Vanessa M. Adams and Jayden E. Engert. Note: See “Australian Agricultural Resources: A National Scale Land Capability Map”. Data in Brief 46 (1 February 2023). 7 Prime agricultural land to be used for agriculture (1) This section applies in relation to prime agricultural land that is being used by a person for the purpose of agriculture. (2) A law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory has no effeProtecting Australia’s Prime Agricultural Land introduced text
9 Purchaser of prime agricultural land If a person purchases prime agricultural land, the person must ensure that the land is not used for a purpose other than agriculture.Protecting Australia’s Prime Agricultural Land introduced text
10 Provisions relating to the commencement of this Act (1) If a person is in possession of prime agricultural land that is being used in part for a purpose other than agriculture at the date of commencement of this Act, that person must not expand or extend such usage. (2) This Act does not apply to the existing use of land for a purpose other than agriculture at the commencement of this Act.Protecting Australia’s Prime Agricultural Land introduced text
10 Provisions relating to the commencement of this Act (1) If a person is in possession of prime agricultural land that is being used in part for a purpose other than agriculture at the date of commencement of this Act, that person must not expand or extend such usage. (2) This Act does not apply to the existing use of land for a purpose other than agriculture at the commencement of this Act. (3) If prime agricultural land is being used for a purpose other than agriculture as at the date of commencement of this Act, and such non‑agricultural use ceases after that commencement, the prime agrProtecting Australia’s Prime Agricultural Land introduced text
7 Prime agricultural land to be used for agriculture (1) This section applies in relation to prime agricultural land that is being used by a person for the purpose of agriculture. (2) A law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory has no effect to the extent that it would (apart from this section) result in using the land for a purpose other than agriculture.Protecting Australia’s Prime Agricultural Land introduced text
4 Act binds the Crown This Act binds the Crown in each of its capacities. 5 Extension to external Territories This Act extends to the external Territories.Protecting Australia’s Prime Agricultural Land introduced text
Context
Australia entered 2026 without federal legislation specifically protecting its best agricultural land, while earlier reporting found that the country’s food security was uncertain and Andrew Gee MP argued that urban sprawl and renewable-energy projects were encroaching on prime farmland. On 23 March 2026, Gee introduced a private member’s bill to keep land rated high or above on the national capability map in agriculture, allowing existing non-agricultural uses to continue only without expansion and linking land protection to food security.
Australia’s food security was reported as uncertain
ABC reported that Australia was well positioned for a food boom but lacked certainty about its food security and needed a national food plan.
ABC News ↗Development was said to be encroaching on prime farmland
In his second-reading speech, Andrew Gee MP said residential development, urban sprawl and renewable-energy projects were being built on some of Australia’s finest agricultural land.
Hansard ↗Andrew Gee MP introduced a federal protection bill
Gee introduced the private member’s bill as Australia’s first proposed federal safeguard for prime agricultural landLand rated high, very high or extremely high for farming on the named national capability map. and food security.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
Key criticism
The included debate contains no clear argument against the bill. Andrew Gee instead criticised local councils, state governments and the major federal parties for failing to protect farmland. Bob Katter of Katter’s Australian Party supported the bill and argued that development should use Australia’s abundant non-prime land.
The evidence pack therefore presents supporting arguments but no developed opposing case. It does not show how governments, landowners, planners or developers responded to the proposed restrictions.
Further sources
Votes
No recorded votes have been found yet for this bill.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Andrew Gee urges the House to pass the bill, arguing that prime agricultural landLand rated high, very high or extremely high for farming on the named national capability map. must be reserved for farming to protect Australia's food security from residential, industrial, mining and renewable energy development.
Read in Hansard ↗Canavan urges the Senate to pass the bill, arguing that Australia's most productive farmland must be protected to preserve food security, farmers' livelihoods and regional communities while allowing development that meets strict safeguards.
Read in Hansard ↗Bob Katter supports the bill, arguing that development should use Australia's abundant empty land rather than prime agricultural landLand rated high, very high or extremely high for farming on the named national capability map. needed for domestic food production.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
1 speaker · 1 support
2 speakers · 2 support
“I commend the bill to the House and cede the rest of my time to the member for Kennedy.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I second the bill. I point out to my fellow Australians that if you move 100km west of Sydney, Newcastle or Brisbane and the Gold Coast, you could drop a series of atomic bombs right across Australia and you would kill nobody. There's nobody living there. In fact, if you take a narrow 120-kilometre-wide belt out of the east coast of Australia and a little dot from around Perth, there would be less than a million people collectively living on a continent the size of the United States or China or Europe. There is no-one living there, so why do you have to take up prime agricultural land when, if there is one thing that Australia has, it's empty land?”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
