Writers Competition

‘ If I were the Australian Minister for Agriculture …’

Farmers, students and agribusiness leaders – your chance to write the future agricultural policy for Australia and win $500!

• Competition details
• Rules of entry
• Prizes
• What your agricultural policy statement should include
• Judging criteria
• Entry Form

Competition details

The next Australian Farm Institute Farm Policy Journal is giving you the opportunity to spell out what you think Australian agricultural policy should be over the next 5 years. We want your ideas!

If you were the Australian Minister for Agriculture, what would be your aims for the future of agriculture, and what measures or programs would you implement to make that happen?

Given that 2010 is an election year, this provides a great opportunity for all armchair agricultural policymakers to have their views heard and put in front of politicians at a critical time. Who knows – perhaps some of your policy ideas might even by adopted and implemented!

Rules of entry

Entrants in the competition are required to write a short essay titled ‘If I were the Australian Minister for Agriculture…’. A judging panel consisting of Institute staff and senior policymakers will have the task of select two winning entries – one from a farmer and the other from agribusiness – and these will be published (along with a number of other papers on the same topic) in the May 2010 edition of the Farm Policy Journal.

Participants in the competition must be either full-time farmers, tertiary students or agribusiness participants. Agricultural consultants and Commonwealth or State Government employees will not be eligible to enter.

Entries must not exceed 2,000 words in length. Footnotes and references will not be required.

Entries should be submitted in electronic format, with the closing date being Friday 26^th March, at 5.00pm. Editing tips and assistance can be provided by the AFI team.

Prizes

Two authors will receive a cash prize of $500, and a complimentary one year full membership to the Australian Farm Institute (value $275).

What should your agricultural policy statement include?

You policy statement should focus specifically on agriculture (excluding fisheries and forestry). It should contain an initial statement about your overall objectives for the agriculture sector over the next five years, and the policies and programs you would implement or the things you would change to achieve those objectives.

A budget for any proposed measures is not required, however if your policies include measures that would obviously involve increased government expenditure, it would help to also identify some savings you might make. Some topics that might be addressed in your agricultural policy could include some of the following;

• Production and productivity: Landuse and property rights,  animal welfare, GM crops, economic assistance (drought or other);
• Rural development: Providing services and infrastructure for agriculture and regional Australia, labour and skill needs of agriculture, agriculture in northern Australia;
  
• Trade and market access : Ecolabelling/country of origin labelling of Australian agricultural products, trade and market access for agricultural exports or imports, competition in agricultural markets, marketing Australian agricultural products globally;
• Ressources, environment and climate change:  water quality, water availability, biodiversity, soil, carbon, energy, climate change;
• Biosecurity and food quality: Bio-security, quarantine and food safety;
• Research and development: Agricultural education and promotion, technical assistance, technical development.

The main focus should obviously be on new ideas and policies that you think would be an advantage for the sector.

Judging criteria

Entries will be judged using the following criteria;

• Originality: proposed policies should go beyond just criticizing existing policies, and preferably propose fresh ideas or improvements that will help the sector to grow;
• Comprehensiveness: the policy will need to address a full range of agricultural activities and sectors involved in Australian agriculture;
• Practicality: proposed policies will need to find the right balance between being bold and practical – there should be a reasonable chance proposed policies will be adopted.
• Clarity: the policy statement should be written in clear, jargon-free language so that it is easily read and understood.

If you have always had ideas about how to improve the agriculture sector in Australia, but not had a chance to get your ideas noticed, here is your opportunity!

The Australian Farm Institute is happy to announce the composition of the selection panel for the two winninentries of the competition:

• The Hon Tony Burke, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries
• Secretary Richard Bolt, Victorian Department of Primary Industries
• Dr Linda Botterill, Director of the National Institute for Rural and Regional Australia, Fellow Political Science Programm, The Australian National University
• Dr Julianne Schultz AM is the founding editor of Griffith REVIEW, She is a professor at Griffith’s Centre for Public Culture and Ideas

Entry Form

If you want to participate, you can email us now and register your interest.

Once your contribution is ready you can either email us to receive the details or directly fill our entry form and attach your document.