ABSTRACT
Australian agricultural policy has undergone a fundamental transition in the nearly 70 years since the end of World War II. This chapter deals with the origins of the ideological currents underpinning the transition from 'state paternalism to neoliberalism in Australian rural policy'. It presents the impact of Australia's adherence to the 'efficiency mantra'. The chapter discusses rural adjustment schemes - the dominant policy mechanism used by successive governments to achieve efficiency for the agricultural sector. It overviews the key policy events and transitions that took place during the 1970s and 1980s. With this general overview provided, attention turns now to a more specific discussion of Australia's continued adherence to agricultural efficiency over the intervening years since the inception of neoliberal ideology, before considering the key policy mechanism used to create an efficient agricultural sector i.e. rural adjustment. Since early 1980s, the key theme of Australian agricultural policy has been the liberalisation of the market contexts in which farmers are situated.
