Doorstop in Canberra
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
CANBERRA
TUESDAY, 4 MARCH 2025
SUBJECTS: Feeding Australia national food security strategy; trade; election timing.
JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: So, a re-elected Albanese Labor Government will develop a new national food security strategy for Australia, called Feeding Australia.
This strategy is important for Australian consumers, Australian farmers and, indeed, our entire food system. A lot of work has already been done right across the supply chain of Australia's food system. Whether that be the important work that's being done by the Department of Infrastructure and the Minister in relation to supply chains, whether it be the important work across the manufacturing that's being done by the Department of Industry and the Minister there, whether it's the important work being done by Minister Bowen and his department for Climate Change and Energy. It's bringing it all together into a national strategy for food security in Australia.
We know that this is important, and we know that our food system can be more interrupted. Australia produces enough food to feed our country more than twice over. What we also know, as I’ve said, that our food supply system can be interrupted. Whether it be things like cyclones, or whether it be things like bird flu, we know that this is impacting the Australian food system, and we need to have an integrated strategy to make sure that we look at the weaknesses across the entire food system, and that we're able to mitigate those where it's cost effective to do so. We want to work with industry and with farmers - who've been calling for this national food security strategy - to develop this strategy. As I’ve said, we're not starting from scratch. A lot of work has already been done, and this is about bringing together all of that important work.
We're also going to establish is a National Food Council that will help develop and, importantly, implement plans for implementation of the strategy. I want to thank the important work that's been done by the House Standing Committee on Agriculture led by Meryl Swanson, and all of the members of that Committee for the important work that they have done in terms of food security, which is how we got to where we are today. This is an important announcement for Australian farmers, importantly, but also for the Australian food system and for consumers more broadly. We know that having an integrated national food security strategy will actually put downward pressure on prices and help consumers at the check out. This comes on top of the other measures that we have done in terms of the Australian food and grocery mandatory Code and, indeed, the funding that we have provided to CHOICE in terms of putting downward pressure on grocery prices. We want to make sure everybody along the food system gets their fair share, but we also want to put downward pressure for consumers, and that's what having a national food security strategy will also look at. This is just one thing that our government is doing for farmers. We have been delivering when it comes to agriculture and delivering in terms of strengthening our biosecurity system. We've been delivering in terms of trade, making sure that Australia continues to feed the globe. With more than 70 per cent of our agricultural, fisheries and forestry product exported overseas, it's important to have this food security strategy to make sure that we continue to meet our obligations in terms of feeding the globe.
We now have the most diversified agricultural trade Australia has ever had, 169 markets right across the globe. We've also, of course, increased the agriculture workforce, working with industry to make sure that we can get our great produce to the supermarkets and on to people's plates. This food strategy is important, but our biosecurity team are also an important part of this. They've been doing some important work and I was disappointed in Estimates, just a week or so ago, to see that Bridget McKenzie was talking about the additional staff employed from my Department, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, saying that they would cut those staff.
Those staff are frontline staff, biosecurity staff, staff working on our trade negotiations overseas, providing access to farmers. They’re critical staff in our Department, and the Opposition and Peter Dutton and Bridget McKenzie need to be clear about what are their plans to reduce the public service and where they're going to make those cuts. We also know they've got $350 billion worth of cuts, and they need to be clear about where those cuts are. We also know, of course, that their nuclear plan would require another $600 billion, and where are they going to get that funding from? We also know that that will impact in the long run and cost farmers and producers as well.
I'm happy now to hand over to Troy Williams from the National Farmers Federation, the CEO, to say a few words, and Andrew Henderson, the Principal Adviser for Agsecure and Senior Officer at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, ASPI, known as ASPI, to say a few words about our national food security strategy, and then I'm happy to take some questions.
TROY WILLIAMS, NATIONAL FARMERS FEDERATION: Thank you, Minister, it's great to be here with you today. This has been a long term priority for the National Farmers Federation and today is a good day for Aussie farmers. It's also a good day for average Australians and it helps guarantee that they'll be able to have the food they need on their tables. Because Australian farmers are resilient, but we also know there's [indistinct], weather-related, trade-related, supply chains can be cracked at so many levels and what this strategy allows us to do is identify where the weaknesses are and put in place the arrangements to mitigate them. It will be a whole of government response, bringing together not just Australian Government agencies, but also the States and Territories.
So this is a good day for Aussie farmers, and the reason we know that is because of the commitment from the government to involve them from day one. They know their businesses better than anyone else. They know where the weaknesses are in the supply chain, and this strategy will help identify those weaknesses and put in place mitigating strategies, so we can feed not just Australia but also to maintain our export [indistinct].
ANDREW HENDERSON, ASPI: Thanks Troy. Thanks Minister. Today is a good day. A national food security strategy is something that, as Troy and the Minister have pointed out, has been called for by a really wide group of food systems stakeholders – from farmers and distributors to the likes of food banks and exporters, for a long period of time. And it matters because food security is a critical pillar of Australia's national security, and that's something that we must remember in the face of what is becoming an increasingly dangerous and chaotic world. We see it around us, every day on the news. We are at risk of significant supply chain disruptions for a range of different reasons, be they through climate change, be they through other types of supply chain disruptions or even conflict through our major trade routes in the Indo Pacific.
Now this matters to myself and others because we're currently authoring a national food security preparedness Green Paper through the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which seeks to set the foundation as to what a national food security strategy could and should look like at a very grassroots level at the end of the day to try and mitigate the significant vulnerabilities that face Australia's food system. Food security is not just an important domestic issue for the 30 per cent of Australians who face moderate to severe domestic food insecurity every year. It's also critically important to the stability and security of our region, remembering that one in five people across the Western Pacific are under-nourished, and half the world's under-nourished population lives in Asian cities. So, this is not just a domestic issue, it's an incredibly important issue for us regionally. It's something that we're really pleased to see, and we look forward to working with going forward, because remembering this is a first step and this is where the real work really begins. And it's also critically important to note that this needs to something that transcends politics and is a bipartisan issue to ensure that this nation can continue to feed itself and our region, in times of peace and in times of crisis. Thanks very much.
COLLINS: Any questions for Troy or Andrew in relation to their words?
JOURNALIST: Would you recommend things like reserves of fuel or better highways, are these the sorts of practical outcomes?
HENDERSON: Yeah, look, these are all things that need to be assessed through a coordinated framework that looks at how we understand what our vulnerabilities are, identify them and prioritise them, to then come up with mitigations to ensure that that basic capacity to be able to produce enough food to feed ourselves and 80 million other people around the world is maintained.
Now that's liquid fuel security at a macro level, it's fertilizer, it's other critical inputs, it's crop protection products, but it's also domestic supply chain vulnerabilities like road and rail infrastructure, the capacity to be able to get critical imports from our ports back into rural and regional areas where food production takes place, and then to get that food back to points of export and points of distribution.
JOURNALIST: The recent, I guess, bird flu outbreak, as mentioned, I guess - what in some ways we may have been able to do that better? If you had this strategy in place it would help in that situation?
HENDERSON: At the end of the day, something as insidious as avian influenza, that gets more or less carried on the wings of birds, is beyond anyone's control, but it's how we respond to that that's really important. So we already have reasonably sophisticated biosecurity arrangements in place, but they can always be strengthened and enhanced as part of a holistic strategy to make sure that, whether it's biosecurity incursion that disrupts egg supply - remembering that that's one of the most affordable forms of protein available to some of our most vulnerable people in the community - is maintained to the extent that that's possible.
WILLIAMS: If I can too - the other thing that the strategy will help identify is many existing [indistinct] infrastructure. We know our infrastructure can be threatened with weather events, but in many parts of regional Australia the roads just really aren't up to the job to actually deliver what we need today.
We also see this in the ICT space. If you're in a large city, you take [indistinct] for granted, but many farmers struggle to get Internet connectivity to run productive businesses. So not only will the strategy look at external events which may not threaten us today but also allows [indistinct] particularly when it comes to road infrastructure, rail infrastructure, ICT.
COLLINS: And if I can just add in relation to the biofuels - part of the strategy will looks at feedstock for biofuels, because a lot of our biofuel feedstock goes overseas, sustainable aviation fuel and other types of biofuels across the globe. If we are to have an industry at all here in Australia, we need to make sure that we have the feedstock available. So, part of the strategy will look at biofuels feedstock strategies.
JOURNALIST: Minister, the strategy of the [indistinct] ERC or that budget process, when you're arguing what needs to be funded [indistinct]?
COLLINS: Well, it will look at the mitigations and whether or not they are cost effective for Australian consumers and Australian taxpayers, and we’ll have evidence in the data before us about what needs to be done, what the mitigation is, how much it will cost to mitigate and the cost-benefit of those mitigations.
What we need to do is to make sure that we continue to be able to supply Australians with food in an affordable way. That's what the food security system strategy is all about.
JOURNALIST: Some of the food reps have been critical that the government hasn't addressed the cost of business in general, energy - what do you say to that?
COLLINS: Well, we understand that the cost of doing business has increased in a time of inflation. What I would say to that is when we came to office, inflation had a six in front of it, it now has a two in front of it. We have been working to put downward pressure on inflation, but at the same time we've also been providing support, particularly for small businesses with things like energy bill relief that, of course, Peter Dutton and the Liberals and the Opposition voted against. For many small businesses across Australia now, that's been up to $650 in energy bill relief which I know that small businesses have appreciated.
We also of course have things like instant asset write-off for small businesses. We have been working with them to provide support in a way that puts downward pressure on inflation.
JOURNALIST: I think trade [indistinct] was something that was mentioned. What's the latest out of Washington? How's Ambassador Rudd going and getting Australia out of those metals’ tariffs? Are you confident we can get an exemption?
COLLINS: Well, obviously, you know, we have a 20 year Free Trade Agreement with the United States. We're a trusted partner, we're a strategic ally. Our Prime Minister has had two conversations with President Trump. We've sent over there our senior members: the Foreign Minister, the Trade Minister, the Treasurer, the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister. We are working very hard, right across government, to make sure that we're able to continue to export our great goods to the United States and indeed, around the globe. As I've said, we've worked incredibly hard when it comes to providing diversification of our trade for Australian farmers. We now have the most diversified agriculture trade that Australia has ever had, now with 169 different markets.
JOURNALIST: So the Prime Minister called President Trump again [indistinct].
COLLINS: We're doing everything we can do as a government. We're working incredibly hard to make sure that Australia is able to continue to put our great produce and materials right around the world, as we have always been able to do. As I've said, we've got a Free Trade Agreement that's mutually beneficial to the United States and to Australia - that's why it's been so long standing - and they are a trusted partner and ally.
JOURNALIST: Just a final one, as for the cyclone in Brisbane, will that push back the election date? Would it be prudent for the Prime Minister to wait a couple of weeks?
COLLINS: Look, I think what's important is that we support people in northern New South Wales and Queensland in preparing for the cyclone, and indeed there afterwards, just like we were in the cyclone that hit Northern Queensland just a few weeks ago.
I myself went up to Townsville and to Ingham to talk to some of the producers up there about the impact of those natural events, and part of the food security strategy that we're talking about here today will help us in the future when it comes to recovering from incidents. I think that all of us, our thoughts are with those people around the New South Wales border and South East Queensland today and the next few days. I'm sure it's an incredibly stressful time for the people in those areas, and we're thinking of them, and we are there for them during and after this cyclone event.