Interview with Warwick Long, ABC Country Hour

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC COUNTRY HOUR
TUESDAY, 18 NOVEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Climate-Smart Agriculture Program; climate change; H5 bird flu.

WARWICK LONG, HOST: Well, along those lines, let’s talk to the Federal Agriculture Minister now, Julie Collins, who’s been defending the government’s work on net zero for agriculture. The Minister says the recent move by the Federal Nationals and Liberals to walk away from net zero targets will make it harder for farmers to access key markets and achieve their own goals of lowering greenhouse emissions in the sector. The Minister’s also been out making major climate adaption announcements today for the Foodbowl around Melbourne where a lot of horticulture is produced. And joined me a short time ago, Minister Julie Collins, welcome back to the Country Hour.

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: It’s terrific to be on again, Warwick.

LONG: You’ve made an announcement particularly around climate resilience around the foodbowls around our biggest city and our state today in Melbourne. What can you tell us?

COLLINS: Well, this is about, a part of our climate agsmart grants and its $1.7 million but this is a partnership with Melbourne Water and with Landcare and local governments about, you know, on farm adaptions. So, this is about working with farmers on the ground to make sure that they have sustainable food practices, to do on-farm trials, use of biological fertilisers, and a whole range of workshops and trainings so that we actually get that, you know, on ground adoption of some of these practices.

LONG: Is there an importance in doing these things close to big cities where there are large populations, as opposed to sort of more remote areas?

COLLINS: Well, this is part of a $300 million program. There's 170 projects across the country, but it is really important. I mean, you've got 5 million people living around the greater Melbourne area. You've also got, surprisingly, 1,500 farmers or producers in that area, and this is working with around 500 of them. So, it is a significant number, indeed, in this area, it's also worth about one and a half billion dollars’ worth of food. A lot of it is horticulture, so you know, fresh fruit and veggies.

LONG: This then comes to a to a wider debate, whether it be in agriculture and politics at the moment, around policies around climate adaption, but also policies around reducing emissions too, with net zero still being a very important part of your government's policies going forward, but not necessarily the Opposition at the moment. So what certainty or lack of does that provide for agriculture and what you're doing?

COLLINS: Well, obviously our farmers and a lot of our industry groups also have their own targets, Warwick, so we know how important it actually is for agriculture more broadly. When you've got the National Farmers Federation, you know, organisations like Dairy Australia, Wine Australia and industry groups trying to reduce their emissions, because they understand this is important, not just locally, in terms of our environment, and what we're trying to do with net zero, but also in terms of international trading partners, given that the large percentage of our produce actually gets exported overseas. So it is really important. And unfortunately, what we've seen from the Liberals and the Nationals is that they are all over the place. I mean, we had a wasted decade last time they were in government. They still don't know what they're subsidising or not subsidising, whether it's coal or what other types of industries. And instead, we're just getting on with the job, and we're working with farmers on the ground to help them reduce their emissions. And that's what we're about.

LONG: If you lose government, essentially, and a lot of these things are really long term in terms of what you're doing to try and reduce emissions. Where does that leave agriculture?

COLLINS: Well, obviously it puts, you know, Australia's agriculture at risk, because, as I said, 80 per cent of it is exported into international markets, and it's in our international customers and markets that are demanding more lower emissions, higher quality produce. And Australia has some of the lowest emissions on the planet already, when it comes to agriculture, we should be incredibly proud of our farmers and what they've achieved. I mean, when you look at the red meat industry, for instance, since 2005 they've reduced their emissions almost 78 per cent. I mean, that is extraordinary. We've got some of the lowest use of fertilizer on the globe. We should be celebrating our farmers, and we should be supporting them. They're some of the most productive farmers on the globe, with some of the lowest emissions, and that's what our government wants to do. We'll let the other side continue to fight amongst themselves and work out what they're doing, but we're going to just get on with the job and work with farmers on the ground.

LONG: What is agriculture's role in the government's push to net zero?

COLLINS: Well, obviously agriculture does play a part, but we're not setting any targets specifically for agriculture. We've got an economy wide target, and we're working right across the economy. But certainly, as I've said, you know, farmers understand that the changing climate is impacting them and their bottom line. I mean, they are trying to reduce their emissions because they know that actually they're improving their productivity on farm.

LONG: Agriculture is part of the economy, though, so it essentially is part of the targets by proxy, yeah?

COLLINS: That’s right, well, obviously we want to reduce emissions across the entire economy. That's right.

LONG: Which leads me to the next question. We've got farmers protesting today, locking gates on workers from transmission companies wanting to build transmission lines on their properties to take power from renewable energy sources to the grid. This is a debate between that and mineral science, sands mines and so much, which is about transitioning the economy to lower emissions that is involving agricultural land use at the moment. Can anything be done there to better manage that transition? Because at the moment in regional Victoria, it feels particularly angry.

COLLINS: Yeah, we've had a chat on your program before about those land use tensions and the fact that they've been there for a long time, Warwick. We've also had a chat before that you know, we do think that the consultation can always be improved and done better. I mean, certainly a lot of farmers are benefiting, and have a lot of renewable projects on their land, and they're diversifying their income, and they're getting the benefit from it. But also lowering emissions more broadly across on farm is actually helping farmers with their own productivity and their own bottom line. I mean, some of the modelling that ABARES in my department have done has shown that, you know, climate change is impacting farm profits, but if we actually reduce our emissions, we can improve productivity and improve returns for farmers. So, we needn't lose sight of that. And that's the story that we're telling. And we're in Victoria today talking to farmers on the ground about it.

LONG: What do you say to communities that are angry about some of these renewable developments in their in their areas, about that transition that they're involved in?

COLLINS: Well, obviously, we appointed the transmission commissioner, the Infrastructure Commissioner, which is the former CEO of the NFF, to work with local communities and to do better consultation, particularly with the energy companies. As I've said, certainly, that consultation can always be improved. What I would say more broadly is the vast majority of Australian farmers and indeed Australians support net zero. I would also say that, you know, it is the cheapest form of energy, new energy. And frankly, everybody, the CSIRO modelling, everybody says it's the cheapest form of new energy, and that's what we need to be investing in.

LONG: And your Energy Commissioner says there needs to be more watertight rules around rehabilitating farmland, particularly as programs become to the end of their life. Is that something you want the government to look at?

COLLINS: Well, we're also working, obviously, with farmers and people on land about improving biodiversity, and what role the Australian carbon credit units or ACCUs have in terms of biodiversity as well. So, we're also doing that work as well.

LONG: And, Minister, before I let you go, a lot of talk over the last month or so about the discovery of H5N1 in an Australian territory, thousands of kilometres off our shoreline, 4000 kilometres or so from Perth. Have the samples of that discovery of what is suspected to be the nasty strain of bird flu made it back to the country yet?

COLLINS: Yes, they certainly arrived back on the Nuyina from the sub-Antarctic Island, Heard Island where we saw that unusual high number of deaths in the elephant seals, and those samples have come back. They will be, you know, clearing customs and going through biosecurity and being transported, and they'll go to the Center for Disease Preparedness to be tested. We expect those tests will take a couple of weeks, and then we'll be in a position to confirm or with relief, I guess if it's not, bird flu, H5 virus. But certainly indications are that it is likely to be, and it would not be unexpected for it to be. And we have seen it on some of the French sub-Antarctic islands a few hundred kilometres away from Heard island. But let me just remind your listeners that this does not mean that we have the H5 here in Australia. It is an external territory, and it's quite some distance from Australia.

LONG: Well, in fact, bird flu would be closer in some Asian countries then this territory is to the Australian mainland.

COLLINS: All of the experts advise me we are more likely to get it from the north. We can't stop it from coming, unfortunately, Warwick, because it will come by migratory birds. So, we have done everything that we can do. We have invested early, we have provided additional resources to states and territories and work with industry and other groups. We've done exercises so we're prepared as much as we can be for when it does arrive in Australia at some point in the future. We hope it's sometime in the future, though, so we'll continue to keep our eye out. And I'd remind people, if they see large groups of dead birds, please do not touch them, but please go to birdflu.gov.au, and or ring the hotline there that you'll find on that web page, because we do need to be notified if there are any sightings of it, so that we can get testing done immediately.

LONG: And just to confirm, the samples have arrived back in Tasmania via boat. They'll be packaged, and I'd imagine, sent very carefully, to Geelong where they will be tested further to see if it is H5N1.

COLLINS: That's correct. They will be transported as dangerous goods under some big protocols, they have been quarantined and done separately, and we've had some of my department's biosecurity team meet the Nuyina when it arrived in Hobart yesterday to make sure that everything's done according to the strict protocols in place.

LONG: It’s been great to have you on the program again today, Minister. Thanks very much for joining us.

COLLINS: Thanks very much, Warwick.