Interview with Sally Sara, ABC RN Breakfast

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO NATIONAL BREAKFAST 
FRIDAY, 29 AUGUST 2025

SUBJECTS: Additional $1 billion in new loan funding for farmers; H5 Bird Flu Preparedness.

SALLY SARA, HOST: The Federal Government is adding an extra $1 billion in loans for farmers and agricultural businesses affected by the ongoing drought. As well as the extra funding, the scope of the loans is being expanded to include investments that will improve climate resilience and help with emissions reductions and deal with algal blooms. The Minister for Fisheries and Forestry is Julie Collins, who's in Ballarat this morning. Minister, welcome back to Breakfast.

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Thanks very much for having me on and good morning to your listeners today.

SARA: Previously, Minister, there was around $350 million of funding available through the Regional Investment Corporation. That's being bumped up by around a billion. Why such a big boost right now? What's the government's thinking?

COLLINS: Well, these loans through the Regional Investment Corporation were due to end on 30 June next year. What we want to do is to give farmers and primary producers certainty that loan products will continue with the Regional Investment Corporation and that more money will be available for that with the addition additional $1 billion in new funding to make sure that there's certainty. To make sure that farmers who need that support understand that that support will be ongoing further than from 30 June next year. We obviously also want to work with industry and farmers on the design of loan products going forward. We will need to make legislative changes to the Regional Investment Corporation to allow this to happen. But we have been listening to farmers and what we want to do is to make them more resilient in the good times so that when the difficult weather times do come that they're more resilient and more prepared, which is what the new loan product will be about.

SARA: The president of the Victorian Farmers' Federation, Brett Hosking, told Breakfast this morning that many farmers would benefit from interest-free loans or at least an initial period of no interest, rather than interest set at the Commonwealth bond rate. Is that something that the government would be willing to consider, especially for those who are in crisis at the moment?

COLLINS: Well, what we have said is we want to continue to work with farmers with industry on the design of those products. We want to make sure we take the time to get that right. We don't want to rush into this. What we've seen in the past is where those types of loans were provided by the Regional Investment Corporation that it took a very, very long time to get that support to farmers. So, what we want to do is make sure that we get the support to farmers as quickly as we can and work with them on what that sort of product will look like. I'd also say that the way that the Regional Investment Corporation was originally designed, interest rates were due to go up on the 1st of August and we moved to keep them at the same level while we continue those discussions.

SARA: The scope of what the loans can be used for is being expanded to include what's described as slow onset ecological events. Does that mean that businesses affected by South Australia's algal bloom will also be able to apply?

COLLINS: What that means is we'll have discussions around what that product looks like. As I've said, legislation will be required to allow that expansion to occur. So, we do want to have the discussions with primary producers, particularly. Particularly, the issue that's been raised is that at the moment, aquaculture farmers, for instance, would be eligible for Regional Investment Corporations, but wild fish catchers would not be eligible under the current way that the Regional Investment Corporation is structured. So, we want to have those discussions about what is this going to look like going forward and what types of these ecological changes are we likely to experience in Australia going forward.

SARA: So, is that something that you want? So that those kind of businesses would be eligible? Because we know, particularly with the algal bloom, it's having a big effect and it's far from over yet.

COLLINS: Well, we've obviously provided around $20 million in support already for the algal bloom because this is a different type of impact on our environment and impact on local community that's not been seen before in Australia. It's probably more similar to drought than it is to other types of impacts. So, we want to continue to have those discussions. We had a great discussion in Canberra yesterday with a group of South Australian councils that came about, you know, what is going to be required going forward and this type of impact. We've obviously provided, as I said, that immediate support, though, with the South Australian Government who have designed packages for farmers, for producers, for fishers and for local businesses there in South Australia as part of the funding that we have provided.

SARA: You're listening to Radio National Breakfast and I'm speaking with Julie Collins, who is the Federal Minister for Agriculture. You're also opening up the criteria and loan scope to include assistance for improving climate resilience, boosting productivity and supporting agriculture to be part of Australia's net-zero transition. What does that mean for farming communities?

COLLINS: Well, what that means is that, as I was saying earlier, that farmers are going to be able to better, be more resilient in the future. They'll be able to, you know, put infrastructure investments onto their farms to make sure that they are more resilient and more productive going forward in relation to future climatic impacts on their farmland. But importantly, Australian farmers are some of the best around the globe. They are some of the most productive. And at our Productivity Roundtable for Agriculture, we had a big discussion around what does that mean and what does that look like. And certainly sustainable agriculture is going to be important going forward. As I say, our farmers are terrific. We have some of the lowest-emission farmers across the globe and we want to keep it that way.

SARA: Let's go to H5N1 bird flu. In your view, is it a matter of when rather than if bird flu reaches Australian shores?

COLLINS: Well, I don't think my view really matters, what matters is the experts, and the experts say we're not going to be able to stop it because migratory birds will bring it here at some point. We're currently the only continent free of that H5 bird flu. So, what we've been doing as a government has been investing to make sure we're as ready as we can to try and make sure that we get on top of it as early as we can to try and reduce the impact. Particularly on our food systems, but importantly also to see what we can do to protect wildlife - mammals and bird life.

SARA: Are you expecting a shortage of eggs in the coming weeks or months ahead?

COLLINS: Well, we obviously saw that with the outbreak of the H7 virus. We've had two outbreaks in the last two and a half years and we have been successful in eradicating those because of the great cooperation that we get and the fact that we've tested our systems. So, what we want to do is to make sure that whatever impact we have, we keep it as short as possible and that we get on top of it as quickly as possible. But if the H5 strain does come to Australia, we're not going to be able to eliminate it. So, we need to do everything we can to protect our food systems.

SARA: Julie Collins, thank you for your time this morning.

COLLINS: Thanks very much.