It is tempting to assert that the most striking thing about Australian agricultural policy is that there isn't one. However, the Oxford Concise Dictionary defines policy as “courses of Government action,” and of these there have been, and are, a great many. So many decisions of Government affect agriculture that in this sense of the word there must, willy nilly, be policies. What is far more open to question is whether the innumerable activities of Commonwealth and State authorities conform to a consistent set of policy objectives.

It is the purpose of my paper to-night to review the principal policy objectives which now seem to be emerging and to review also some of the “courses of action” which are in process of being developed. Not less important, I propose to draw attention to the necessity and scope for further action in a number of matters vital to our achievement of stated policy objectives. I believe I will show that, while there is now apparent a clear set of policy aims, broadly acceptable to all Governments and political parties, these have not yet been fully translated into effective “courses of action”, although progress is in the right direction.

Clear and complete statements on agricultural policy have not been a marked characteristic of any political party in Australia. Political platforms, as printed and uttered, are prone to mix policy ends and means with cheerful abandon.