Can Australia feed itself if supply chains fail? In Part 1, we unpack the phosphate risk—and the bold local response underway.

As global supply chains falter and foreign influence rises, Australia faces a hard truth: we no longer control the fertiliser inputs critical to feeding our own population.

In Part 1 of Australia’s Phosphate Risk, we head to Northwest Queensland—ground zero for food and regional security. There, Northwest Phosphate is restarting the country’s last domestic fertiliser rock mine. Founder John Cotter joins us to explain why phosphate is more than a farming input—it’s a national asset.

This episode explores:
✔️ Why Australia’s reliance on imported phosphate is unsustainable
✔️ How one regional project is reviving critical mining infrastructure
✔️ The strategic role of rural Queensland in national resilience
✔️ What this means for farmers, Indigenous jobs, and regional exports

If you care about Australia’s ability to feed itself and hold economic ground in the Indo-Pacific, start here.

🎧 Part 2— Strategy, Investment & National Response — drops next. Catch it inside Vaxa Bureau.