Interview with Selina Green, ABC Country Hour

E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
RADIO INTERVIEW 
ABC COUNTRY HOUR SOUTH AUSTRALIA 
TUESDAY, 16 JUNE 2026 

SUBJECTS: Securing more fertiliser for farmers   

SELINA GREEN, HOST: I spoke with the Minister earlier today and asked how much was on its way.  

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Yes, we've got approximately another 98,500 tonnes of urea coming in for Australian farmers. That takes the total now, through the Export Finance Australia arrangement, to around 340,000 additional tonnes of urea coming into the country, which is great news for our farmers and does provide a bit more certainty in uncertain times. So, this is good news for our farmers. 

GREEN: When is this latest or these latest shipments expected to arrive? 

COLLINS: We expect them to come on their way very soon, and certainly now, since the war has started, we've now cleared 1.4 million tonnes of urea since late February, so it is still significantly arriving in Australia, and I think the important message here for our farmers is the amount of urea in Australia that's come in, in this growing season is similar to other seasons because of the work that we've been able to do, working hand in hand with the fertiliser sector and indeed with our agriculture industry. So, this is a win all way round. 

GREEN: So, should Australian farmers feel reassured that there is enough fertiliser on hand in Australia now to get through this current season? 

COLLINS: Well, we've certainly been doing everything that we can do to be able to give a bit more certainty to our farmers, and that's certainly what you've seen from us. We've got our fertiliser working group that continues to meet weekly, and, of course, I have been having weekly meetings with the agriculture industry since this conflict began. And I think it's by working together that we've got to this point. And so, you know, an additional 340,000 tonnes of urea coming into the country because of the work that we've been able to do, I think, is good news and certainly also working with our trading partners, particularly in the region, to secure some of those supplies. 

GREEN: Now, under this measure and under this agreement to underwrite urea imports during the conflict, are there further shipments anticipated under this particular arrangement? 

COLLINS: We'll certainly continue to do the work. Obviously, the news of an agreement is very good news in terms of the conflict, but certainly we do know that recovery will take some time and obviously we're all hoping that the Strait of Hormuz opens, reopens as quickly as possible, but we do know that the impact will continue with us for some time, so we'll continue to work with the sector to do everything we can do. You know, the shipments that we're talking about with Incitec Pivot, CSBP and Summit. So, we continue to work broadly across the fertiliser industry. 

GREEN: That agreement, though, access to Export Finance Australia. When does that agreement expire? Does it have a shelf life? Does it end once the ships start flowing freely through that Strait and prices hopefully come down due to a more secure supply? Is there a sort of end date on this? 

COLLINS: We'll continue to monitor that very, very closely and continue to work with industry. We have done this, obviously, working with the industry and at the industry's request to make sure that we have the urea in Australia that our farmers need. Our prime, main concern and objective has always been to do everything we can to shield Australians as much as possible. And you've seen that in the work we've done in terms of our farmers to get the urea into Australia. So, we'll keep working with industry for as long as we need to. We're knowing that recovery will take some time. 

GREEN: As you say, this arrangement has secured that amount of fertiliser coming in in recent months. But do you expect this decision to come back to bite in any way in terms of anti-competitiveness, choosing to underwrite certain importers and not others? Has this put smaller players at a disadvantage and potentially disrupted that market further, though? 

COLLINS: Well, we've been working with a whole range of people within the industry, and we've been working through the fertiliser working group, and we really make no apologies for trying to get as much urea into Australia for Australian farmers as we possibly can. That has been our objective, to shield our farmers as much as possible, and we'll continue to do that. 

GREEN: Has it given though those companies that have been granted access to, have they been given though a competitive advantage in the fertiliser market now, though? 

COLLINS: Well, as I said, Export Finance Australia does continue to work with industry and with a range of fertiliser providers in Australia in relation to what is available through Export Finance Australia. 

GREEN: Do other companies have as equal access to be able to access that funding as others as those who have already? 

COLLINS: Export Finance Australia have certainly been working with other companies. Absolutely. 

GREEN: Longer term, this has obviously highlighted some fundamental challenges in ensuring essential inputs like fertiliser are available when these global disruptions occur. So, what's going to be put in place to ensure the same scenario doesn't happen again? Obviously, there's been a very vocal and strong push throughout this conflict for Australia to look at onshore production or possibility of stockpiling, given it is a matter of food security and important to the economy. What happens now to ensure we don't end up in this same situation next time there is a disruption? 

COLLINS: There's a few things there. Two things that I really want to take note of is obviously we've got the Perdaman plant coming on in Western Australia around the middle of next year. That will produce very substantial amounts of urea here in Australia. That has been supported through a loan through the NAIF, in terms of the finance, around $220 million has gone into the Perdaman plant to support the production of urea back in Australia. The other thing that I would say is obviously we also have our food security strategy that we are working on and there have been announcements in the Budget in terms of fuel and fertiliser and security of supply chains and more work to be done in terms of Australian sovereign capabilities. So, there are lessons to learned, certainly. And what we're doing is we're working with industry to make sure that we learn them and that we're better prepared in the future. 

GREEN: As you touched on before obviously good signs, and serious talk now of a ceasefire being agreed, what does an end to this conflict and a reopening of that Strait of Hormuz, what does it mean for Australian agriculture?  

COLLINS: Well obviously with the amount of urea coming through the Strait, the amount of diesel and crude that’s coming through the Strait. That is so important to Australia, it is critical and we’ve been very clear we as a Government want to see a de-escalation and the Strait open as quickly as possible. But in the meantime we’ve of course been working with our trading partners within the region and more broadly to make sure that we get the supplies we need to shield Australians as much as we possibly can and we’ll continue to do that knowing that the recovery will take some time from this conflict.