Global food production is expected to decrease because of climate change. Growing seasons will get longer in temperate zones as climate warms, but any gains will be offset by extreme weather events like Australia's bushfires. These followed the longest drought in living memory and stand out as a lesson in political paralysis and policy failure.

Australia's sources of vital nourishment were further undermined throughout the pandemic. During its second wave, state governments slipped through decisions to expand coal mining under the Woronora reservoir, one of Sydney's vital water sources, and the Shell-operated joint venture Surat gas project, in one of Queensland's fertile food bowls.

These decisions dismiss the reality that our agriculture competes for water with coal mining and shale and coal seam gas fracking.

Farming takes up half Australia's land, contributes about 10 percent of our export income and contributes approximately 12 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions.

Agriculture accounts for approximately 70 per cent of water consumption in Australia, with cotton and irrigated pastures historically accounting for the higher use.

More than 10 years ago, the 2008 Garnaut Climate Change Review highlighted the historic increases in food prices in the first decade of the century, and the risk climate change posed to Australia's supply capacity.

The Review noted that without a well-planned and effectively implemented mitigation strategy, our farming sector would contract; one of the most significant factors being the impact of prolonged drought on the Murray-Darling's irrigation output.

In January 2019, temperatures exceeded 35 degrees over 14 days, driving demand for Murray-Darling irrigation from 4.5 to 7 gigalitres a day.

Then, in early 2020, 20 different locations in the Macquarie, Namoi, Gwydir, Border, Barwon-Darling, Lachlan, Upper Murray, Murrumbidgee and Lower Darling rivers experienced blue algae breakouts and bushfire ash runoff.

These episodes followed a catastrophic event across December 2018 - January 2019, when over a million fish died on a 40 kilometre stretch of the Darling River.

The fish deaths were a sign of the ill-health of the river, attributed to climate stress and poor management. Excessive irrigation for cash crops including cotton and almonds (the latter being real water-guzzlers) were also blamed. These crops compete with horticulture and rice, and therefore directly impact food security.

The Adani Carmichael coal mine is another example of a climate change policy failure that jeopardises our food supply. Adani is located in another vital part of the Murray-Darling river system: the Galilee.

The Indigenous Wangan and Jagalingou people and surrounding farming communities are concerned about the impact of the mine on the local Doongmabulla Springs, fed by 60 tributaries and covering more than 10 hectares.

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For a region in almost perpetual drought, the Springs - one of the few permanent sources of water in the area - are an essential resource for farms and communities. Only 36 per cent of over 300 spring complexes surveyed in the Galilee Basin are still active, after 120 years of drawdown for agriculture. Yet in 2017, the Queensland state government exempted Adani from new restrictions regulating water use.

Given our reliance on the river system for food production, the state of the Murray-Darling jeopardises our collective futures. In spite of our economy based on short-term gain and competitive individualism, this reliance on natural systems is what we have in common. That alone justifies its protection.