Address to Hort Connections 2024

MELBOURNE
WEDNESDAY, 5 JUNE 2024

***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

Good morning. Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you today.

I'd like to start by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we gather and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

I also acknowledge all of you here today – the growers, processors, retailers, wholesalers, researchers and all in the hort supply chain.

After six days and four nights of Senate Estimates, I’m pleased to be able to join you all here in Melbourne for Hort Connections 2024, which is now the largest industry event of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

Congratulations to AUSVEG and IFPA  for another great trans-Tasman event.

First and foremost, we’re here today to celebrate Australia and New Zealand’s horticulture sector and reaffirm our shared commitment to support our growers and the whole hort supply chain.

The Albanese Government is firm supporter of the event  and I’m very proud that our Government has invested over $1 million to ensure this event, and last year’s event, prosper.

We want everyone to know Australia is home to the world’s best produce and New Zealand is pretty good, too! And Hort Connections puts that message on the world stage.

Our investment in Hort Connections is just one small – but very important – part of the $4 billion in new funding that our Government has invested in the Ag, Fisheries and Forestry sector during our two years in office.

STATE OF THE SECTOR

Firstly, I’d like to celebrate the good news – Australia’s agriculture sector, in particular our horticulture sector, is achieving historic results, thanks to your hard work and expertise.

This week’s ABARES figures show that Australia’s agricultural production is forecast to rise to $84 billion next year, the third highest result on record.

Australian hort output is forecast to reach $17.4 billion over the next financial year, which is a new record high.

What’s more, our horticultural exports are forecast to surge an incredible 11 percent over this period, to hit $4 billion.

And, I’m pleased to say, horticultural output and exports are forecast to grow further through to the end of the decade.

The forecasts show the Australian horticulture sector doing what it’s known for – being adaptable to seasonal conditions and responding to new market opportunities, including overseas.

MARKET ACCESS

At a government level, work is well underway to help make Australian horticulture more internationally competitive, resilient, and fair.

You grow some of the best produce in the world, and the Albanese Government has been working hard to restore and open markets for you all over the world.

We're well on the way to restoring all trade links with our biggest agricultural trading partner, China. Just in the last few months we've exported around $3 billion worth of agricultural products to China, including horticulture, that had previously been suspended.

But we're also helping diversify our markets. Over the last 18 months, we've achieved improved access for cherries to South Korea, stone fruit to Vietnam, avocados to Thailand and India and new market access for all mango varieties to Japan.

There have been significant increases in trade under our newly entered into force trade agreements with India and the UK, outcomes directly benefitting the horticulture sector.

These trade arrangements are huge wins, and when combined with new investments in trade promotion and irradiation infrastructure, they will help our horticulture industry to further expand.

IRRADIATION FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT

Speaking of new investments, I'm pleased to join my Victorian Government colleagues to confirm the Federal Government is investing over $5 million to double Steritech’s irradiation capabilities here in Melbourne.

As you know, irradiation is vital for treating produce in fruit fly affected areas, so our fruit remains export ready for overseas markets.

This will expand our capacity to kill off insects, larvae, and bacteria, and means more Aussie fruit will reach more consumers around the world, while delivering trade security to our growers and the rest of the supply chain.

The existing facilities service over 80 Australian fresh produce crops that are exported to markets like New Zealand and Vietnam.

We are also continuing to expand fumigation chambers, cold rooms and other post-harvest treatment infrastructure at key logistics centres for better access to international markets.

Put simply, this investment will lift the international competitiveness of our produce.

SHOWCASING HORT

But that's not all!

I am also pleased today to announce the Albanese Government will be providing $1.1 million for two new projects to showcase Australian horticulture, both domestically and internationally.

The first of these projects will deliver funding to Hort Innovation to link up horticulture industries in Australia and Japan. This funding will facilitate visits, forums and networking events to showcase the excellence of Australia's horticulture sector both here and in Japan. As you all know, Japan is a key trading partner and this funding seeks to take full advantage of our strong relationship.

The second project will support eligible organisations around the country to deliver regional trade events, across all horticulture commodities. These types of events create major opportunities for growers and the whole hort industry supply chain, while supporting regional economies. We will have further details for these grants soon.

But while there are a lot of good things happening in the sector, I understand there are challenges too.

I understand the issues around competition, workforce needs and increased costs of production.

So I'll take you through some of the things our Government is doing to address those issues to ensure farms remain profitable, workers are treated fairly and the sector keeps yielding bumper harvests.

COMPETITION

We all know this sector can’t function without a fair supply chain from the farmgate to the checkout.

And we all know that for many years there have been many complaints about the lack of retail competition, and its impacts on producers.

Complaints that previous governments have ignored. Unlike our predecessors, we've taken these complaints seriously.

That's why I've worked closely with Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh and other colleagues to initiate a review into the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, which regulates supermarkets dealing with producers.

It's why I arranged several round tables for representatives of producers, including in the hort sector, to meet directly with the reviewer, Dr Craig Emerson - both before and after his interim report - so that your industry could literally have a seat at the table.

And I'm pleased that resulted in some positive recommendations in Craig's interim report, with his final report due soon. Those recommendations include making the code mandatory and increasing fines for foul play.

We've also directed the ACCC to investigate competition across the food supply chain, to explore wider issues. The ACCC is continuing its work and our government will receive the first interim report in the coming weeks.

Our record shows that we'll keep pushing ahead to help Aussie farmers get a fair deal at the farm gate and Aussie families get a fair deal at the checkout.

WORKFORCE

I'm well aware that one of the other major challenges facing this sector - and so many others post-COVID - has been labour shortages.

It's something I've spoken about with many of you, almost since my first day in this job. We have to admit that it's not a new problem, but certainly the impact of COVID hit home, particularly for the overseas workers this industry relies on.

But rather than make excuses, or join our predecessors in coming up with thought bubbles, like ag visas, that didn't deliver a single extra workers, we've been working hard with your sector to deliver real solutions.

Solutions like training over 14,000 Aussies through ag-related fee-free TAFE courses, who are now working on local farms and across the supply chain.

Like investing nearly $2 million in this year's Budget, to support the AgCareerStart program, Farm Safety week activities and to pilot a new skilled agricultural work liaison program.

Of course, we're also working hard to deliver the overseas workers your sector needs, especially by improving the PALM scheme, with an additional $440 million over 5 years to deliver on this.

The truth is, we needed to address the ongoing examples of exploitation that were occurring in the scheme. That were damaging for the affected workers, for your industry's reputation and for our diplomatic relationship with the Pacific.

We have, however, listened to some of the concerns from your sector about the minimum hours changes that were made to the scheme. As many of you will be aware, last week we announced some changes to the schemes minimum hours, in response to that feedback.

Rather than require, from 1 July this year, a minimum of 30 hours to be paid to PALM workers each week, the government has decided to continue the transition period for this requirement until 1 July 2025. We have also accepted the industry's suggestion to add a 120-hour work guarantee.

This mean's employers of short-term workers will be required to offer a minimum of 120 hours of work over 4 weeks. If employers cannot do this, they must pay workers' wages equivalent to at least 120 hours over 4 weeks. And if they breach that requirement, they will move to the requirement to pay a minimum 30 hours per week.

Those measures offer more protection for the workers concerned, while also offering flexibility to agriculture employers, to adapt to weather and market conditions.

This has been a complex issue to work through and it's something I've spoken with Employment Minister Tony Burke and other colleagues many times.

I want to acknowledge all the groups who have been part of these discussions, but I particularly want to mention Claire McClelland from the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance. Claire came to government with some constructive suggestions to deal with the issue and mobilised support for those suggestions across the sector. Claire provided a great example in how to constructively resolve issues between industry and government, by putting up workable solutions. Something we can all learn from.

OTHER PRIORITIES

Time doesn't let me deal with lots of other things we're working on, with your sector.

Like our ongoing investments in biosecurity, which have turned around the biosecurity cuts that we inherited. As a government, we have committed more than $350 million to improve our biosecurity system. Those investments have already seen more than $330 million recovered from importers this financial year, $43 million more than they paid under the old fees and charges regime. Meaning that importers are now paying the full cost of the biosecurity services they receive, for the first time since 2015.

And from July 1, they will pay more again after the next round of fee increases come into effect. We're on track to recover the same amount that would have been recovered through a container levy, without the trade law risks that entails.

Or there's our half a billion dollar investment through the Future Drought Fund, to lift drought preparedness in hort and the whole ag sector.

Or the ongoing sustainability work we are doing with the sector, as we develop our Ag & Land Sector Decarbonisation Plan, which seeks to reduce agricultural emissions, while ensuring our farms remain profitable and productive.

CONCLUSION

There's a lot happening in this sector - on farm, in packing sheds, in research labs, across the supply chain and inside government.

It's why I'm so optimistic about this industry's future.

It's hard to believe that only 10 years ago, our $6.7 billion horticulture sector as worth only $3.3 billion. And I know that's just a taste of what lies ahead.

I look forward to the conversations I’ll have with you today, and to working with you in the future to achieve the best for this fabulous industry.

I wish you all a productive and enjoyable Hort Connections 2024.