Interview with Kieran Gilbert, Sky News

E&OE TRANSCRIPT 
TELEVISION INTERVIEW 
SKY NEWS NEWSDAY 
TUESDAY, 07 APRIL 2026 
  
SUBJECTS: Fertiliser and fuel for Australia’s farmers and producers  

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Let's bring in the Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Julie Collins. Thanks so much for your time. 
 
JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Hi, Kieran. 
 
GILBERT: Let's start with the issue of fertiliser. 
 
COLLINS: Yep. 
 
GILBERT: So important in terms of our food supply, our ag sector, where is that at? We've had reports from our colleagues in Indonesia that they've reassured you that they will continue to provide the urea that makes or helps make fertiliser. Is that, has that been done? 
 
COLLINS: Well, we've obviously been having discussions globally about shoring up Australia's fertiliser supply. Fertiliser’s quite different and much more complex than fuel in terms of its distribution. There are lots of long-term contracts, so a lot of large organisations will have contracts for their fertiliser already. So, it's really the spot market of fertiliser that's being disrupted. So, we're working through finance export Australia, as per our announcement a couple of weekends ago, with a lot of the importers and a lot of the fertiliser companies, to do what we can do to secure as much supply as we can for Australian farmers. 
 
GILBERT: Is the key, can you explain to our viewers, because it is a bit complicated unless you're sort of immersed in it, but urea is one of the key ingredients, and we get a lot of that from the Middle East? Can you give our viewers a sense of where that's at? 
 
COLLINS: Yeah. So, we do get a lot of our urea from the Middle East. I understand around almost 60 per cent of Australia's urea supply was coming from the Middle East. We are also getting it from around Asia and from other parts. We're looking right across the globe to try and secure as much fertiliser as we can, working with the industry and the sector to do that. My Department and Minister Tim Ayres' Department have stood up the fertiliser working group, and they had their first meeting on Thursday, and they'll meet again later this week to work with the industry and the sector to do what we can do. There's enough fertiliser in the country now, or on water heading towards the country, for the initial sowing season. But this is about ensuring supplies going forward. 
 
GILBERT: Yeah, indeed. And Perdaman, the company that's setting up in Karratha, that's going to have a domestic supply of urea. Will that provide enough to service the whole nation in terms of agriculture? 
 
COLLINS: This will be very significant, and obviously it's great for our Future Made in Australia, and about our national sovereign capability, and about ensuring that we can produce more here in Australia, to be able to get that urea supply online will be really important for Australia. 

GILBERT: Is that that sovereignty you're talking about? 
 
COLLINS: Absolutely, and that national capability. Making sure that we can along the supply chain, make sure that we can do as much as we can here in Australia and that we can secure that supply chain, particularly for food security for Australians, but also for our neighbours, given we export around 80 per cent of our food at the moment. 
 
GILBERT: Is there a chance, you know, given, I'm advised it will provide enough urea to service the whole country, basically, in terms of our ag sector… 
 
COLLINS: It's a very significant amount. 
 
GILBERT: Yeah. Well, can we bring it forward to this year? I mean, I know the timetable is that it would be up by 2027. Can it be brought forward to the end of this year in terms of getting that up and running? 
 
COLLINS: As you would expect, Kieran, we're obviously having conversations right across the board. I know Minister Ayres is, about what we can do with what we've got in Australia today. So, all of the conversations are being held where they need to be held in terms of what needs to be done to get us the fertiliser supply we need. We'll continue to work with industry, we'll continue to work with our international partners and have those conversations, and we'll continue to work with the sector more broadly about making sure we have national sovereign capability here in Australia. 
 
GILBERT: Is rationing inevitable to ensure that those ag producers and the critical industries are serviced? 
 
COLLINS: In terms of fertiliser? 
 
GILBERT: No, we're talking in terms of fuel now. Do you think rationing is going to be inevitable? 
 
COLLINS: Well, obviously, there's the National Fuel Security Plan that was agreed to by National Cabinet and any escalation or de-escalation would be a matter for National Cabinet. You've had Minister Bowen out on the weekend and again today talking about the fact that we've got supplies for some time secured for Australia. So, we're doing everything we can do to shore up that security of supply, and obviously, we're working with states and territories in terms of the distribution of that. 
 
GILBERT: So, so far so good. Essentially, in terms of fuel? 
 
COLLINS: We're doing everything we can do, and we're planning for the immediate challenges, but we're also planning, you know, medium and longer term. 
 
GILBERT: Alright, we appreciate your time. Minister for Agriculture, Julie Collins. Talk to you soon. 
 
COLLINS: Thanks very much, Kieran.