CANBERRA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Australia's agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries will be worth a combined 100 billion Australian dollars (70 billion U.S. dollars) by 2030, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Thursday.
Morrison said the three industries will be key in his government's plan to boost jobs in regional and rural communities, with the plan to be finalized within months.
Addressing the Bush Summit on Thursday, Morrison spoke of the "efforts, struggles and values" of Australians in regional areas.
"More recently I have become very concerned about the disconnection between the city and the bush," he said. "I want us to grow together, not apart as we go forward."
In order to achieve the 100-billion-Australian dollar goal, Morrison will develop more free trade partnerships and remove trade barriers.
"Our goal is to expand our export markets and lift the share of our two-way trade covered by trade agreements to more than 90 percent by 2022," he said. "When we came to office (in 2013) it was 26 percent and it is now more than 70 percent...Our 100-billion-Australian dollar goal is achievable."
A parliamentary committee will be established by the government to hear from regional Australians and examine their future needs.
Much of regional Australia, especially that on the nation's east coast, has been devastated by drought over the last 18 months.
The government has launched a series of programs to help farmers cope with the financial stress associated with drought but Morrison said that the next step was to support drought-proof industries such as higher education and mining in the regions.
"I will never allow those in our cities to tell those in our regions and in rural areas what industries they can work in, how they should live or how they should seek to protect their way of life into the future," he said.
