SMH · Mike Foley · Wednesday 15 April 2026
Albanese is leveraging food exports to Brunei to secure fuel and fertiliser imports, as up to half of Australia's grain growers face skipping the planting season due to soaring input costs.
Swapping wheat for fertiliser to grow wheat — the PM's reinvented the barter economy and called it food diplomacy. Half the grain belt won't plant a crop this season because the inputs cost more than the outputs, and Canberra's answer is a trade deal with Brunei that would make sense if this were 1426 instead of 2026. Jack Lang would have built a plant. We sent a delegation.