The Australian Sugar Milling Council (ASMC) has released its 2025-26 Federal Pre-Budget Submission, highlighting the crucial role that sugar manufacturing can play in addressing key national challenges. The submission underscores the need for more proactive industry policy in response to emerging global uncertainty as international trade rules come under pressure, including recent decisions by the Indian Government to resume sugar exports.
ASMC CEO Ash Salardini said Australia’s trade-exposed industries, and the workers and communities that rely on them, are facing growing global trade headwinds that threaten long-term viability.
“This is not business-as-usual. As a sector that exports more than 80% of its output, we need strong industry and government responses to ensure we remain competitive in a fast-changing global economy.
In addition to uncertainty around the foundations of international trade, a changing climate is impacting sugar communities profoundly, impacting harvesting, crushing and our supply chain infrastructure. Extreme weather events that were once a twenty-five year or fifty-year event seem to be now occurring every five to ten years.
“The Federal Budget provides an opportunity for the Government and industry to work together on a new approach to tackling these challenges head-on.”
The sugar industry is Queensland’s second largest agricultural exporter and the world’s fourth largest sugar exporter (2023/24), supporting around 23,000 jobs and contributing $4.4 billion annually to the national economy.
“With the right industry-government collaboration, we can continue to drive investment, innovation, and regional development in Queensland. We have a plan, and with government buy-in, we can support well-paid regional jobs, deliver affordable baseload renewable electricity, and enhance Australia’s fuel security through biofuels.”
According to the press release, the ASMC has called for a new strategic partnership between government and industry to improve productivity, enhance international competitiveness, and capitalise on emerging economic opportunities that neither sector can realise alone.
The ASMC’s Pre-Budget Submission outlines a strategic pathway for the future of the sugar industry. Recommendations include:
- Establishment of a National Bioenergy Feedstock Strategy to ensure our energy future is made in Australia, from Australian feedstocks – this is more than an economic imperative, it is a matter of national security.
- Incentives to expand sugar’s baseload renewable electricity cogeneration capacity that can reduce Queensland’s wholesale electricity prices by 10-15% from forward projections.
- Developing an indigenous biofuels supply chain in Northern Australia to support Australian Defence capabilities, securing both national and fuel security.
- The Cane Rail Fund: Investing in critical infrastructure, including cane rail and level crossing upgrades, to remove landside chokepoints that have compromised our productivity and international competitiveness.
- Establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Sugar Manufacturing and AI that will provide the R&D and technology transfer capabilities that will ensure Australian sugar manufacturing is equipped to capture the opportunities presented to us in an everchanging global market.
“This is the right time for the sugar industry and the Government to work together to secure a sustainable and resilient future. With the right policy settings, we can turn today’s challenges into long-term opportunities for Australia.” Salardini concluded.
