I use only one word to describe the agricultural lands of Australia and to capture their importance to our society. I use the word 'heartlands'. To me this word evokes ideas of the core, the best, the most important functional part. The heartlands are the bit that really matters.

That is a fair description of the agricultural areas of Australia. They were, and still are, the core around which the Australian society grew. They are the best lands when assessed on the basis of topographic suitability, soil fertility and climate.

Without doubt, the heartlands are the most important functional part of the Australian Commonwealth. Without agriculture, the present Australian society would be unable to feed itself. Agricultural exports have in the past, as in the present, provided the basic level of well-being that all Australians enjoy.

The agricultural lands are the most valuable natural resource that this country has. They are a scarce and irreplaceable resource.

They are scarce because Australia is the driest occupied continent with the highest inter-annual variability of climate. As well, for geological and climatic reasons, the soils of Australia must rank amongst the poorest of any continent. Therefore, the existing agricultural lands are of unique value to Australian society, both in the short term and, most importantly, in the long term.

From these considerations, my inescapable conclusion is that the well-being of Australia's agricultural lands will remain one of the most critical issues facing our country.
It is an issue which should concern all of us: not just those who live on the land, and not just those who live now, but all Australians present and future.

I have no doubt that all our children will revile us for our extraordinary short sightedness, or more appropriately, for our stupidity. For as well as being the heartlands, the agricultural lands of Australia are also the scene of some of the most serious and damaging land degradation on the continent. The incredibly valuable and productive agricultural areas are not only a precious asset, they are also a headache.