FERTILISER SHORTAGE

Supply Chain Exposed.

Australia exports energy to the world yet imports over 90 per cent of the urea our farmers depend on. More than half of it came from the Middle East last year.

When the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted, as it is right now, Australian farmers are left scrambling for fertiliser during peak planting season.

This did not happen by accident. When Dyno Nobel closed the Gibson Island urea facility in 2022, Australia lost its last significant domestic production. Nobody in Canberra stopped it. Nobody replaced it.

During the June 2025 Middle East conflict, urea prices surged by over $118 per tonne in seven days. That hit landed directly on Murray farmers preparing winter crops. It will happen again.

We have the natural gas to manufacture urea here. We have the phosphate deposits. We have every resource required to supply our own farms. What we lack is a government willing to treat food production inputs as a national security matter.

Both sides of government have had every warning, every data point, and every opportunity to act. They chose not to.