Doorstop at Parliament House, Darwin

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, DARWIN
THURSDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2022

SUBJECTS: Biosecurity; $4M Northern Australia Coordination Network; National Lumpy Skin Action Plan; methane pledge; focus on biosecurity; cooperation with industry; foot and mouth disease; 20th anniversary Bali bombings; banana freckle

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Well, thanks everyone very much for coming along today. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back in Darwin. Many of you would know I was a regular visitor here as the Shadow Minister for Northern Australia when we were in Opposition. And I’m really pleased to be back in Darwin for my first visit as the new Agriculture and Emergency Management Minister in the Albanese Government.

I’m particularly delighted to be joined by some old mates and some new mates. So it’s great to be with Kirbs – Paul Kirby, the Northern Territory Agriculture Minister. He’s been a mate of mine for a long time and I know is a real friend of the agriculture industry up here in the Top End. And I’m also really pleased to be joined by so many industry groups here today ranging from the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, the Live Export Association to the Northern Land Council, to the Red Meat Advisory Council, MLA and others that I’ve probably forgotten there’s so many groups we’ve got here today.

And the reason we’ve got so many people here is because we’ve got a really important announcement to make about biosecurity in Northern Australia. Just before I go into a bit of detail about that, I should also just mention and give people an update about the floods that we’re seeing in the other end of the country.

Obviously as the Federal Minister for Emergency Management I’m keeping a very close eye on what’s going on there and we are very concerned about the amount of rain that we’re seeing now falling in Victoria and Tasmania in particular. Yesterday I spent the day in western New South Wales in Dubbo and Gunnedah to see for myself what’s happening there because those regions have obviously been having heavy rain and flooding now for months, and that is really affecting people’s spirit, and it’s certainly having a big impact on farmers and agricultural production right across western New South Wales.

I’ve been briefed a couple of times today by the federal emergency management team about what’s happening in Victoria and Tasmania, and as I’ve said before, we stand ready to support the state governments there in any way that we can, to deal with this flooding. I think all of us have become use to in recent months, and the last couple of years, to heavy flooding in New South Wales and to a lesser extent Queensland. But there are other parts of the country now that face very serious risks.

And all I can ask of people is that just as we’re getting prepared as governments, we need homeowners and residents and farmers to take action to prepare now as well. We’ve already seen people lose their lives recently in flooding by driving into flood waters. The message is really simple – if it’s flooded forget it. It could cost your life, and we don’t want to see that happen again.

Just turning to the reason that I’m in Darwin, though, you all know better than me how important the cattle industry and the agriculture industry is to the Northern Territory and all of Northern Australia. And you all know as well that your proximity to Asia in Northern Australia means that there is a higher risk of certain diseases getting to this country, particularly foot and mouth disease and the one we’re focusing on today, being lumpy skin disease.

A lot of people don’t know much about lumpy skin disease, and probably the blokes standing behind me know even more than I do. But lumpy skin disease is an infectious disease that can affect cattle. It is what it sound like – it generates lumps on cattle’s skin and it’s more than they look bad, it can actually have a real impact on milk production and, of course, it would be a real threat to our live export industry, which is so important here in the north.

And that’s why since we’ve taken office we’ve been working really closely with state and territory governments, including Kirbs and his friends in the Northern Territory Government and also importantly we’ve been working really closely with industry to make sure that we’re putting in the best possible defences against lumpy skin disease that we possibly can, and also making sure that we’re really prepared as a country if the worst happens and we do see an outbreak here.

Now, there’s been a lot of attention – rightly so – on foot and mouth disease in our community over the last few months. But the reality is that lumpy skin disease is an even higher risk of coming to Australia. Our experts have estimated that the risk of a lumpy skin disease outbreak in Australia is about 28 per cent over the next five years, and that compares to foot and mouth disease where we’re looking about a 12 per cent risk over the next five years.

So we need to take this seriously, and the reason we’re making this announcement in Darwin is that, as I say, Northern Australia is on the frontline when it comes to the risk of these diseases. 

And that’s why we want to make sure that we are opening a new line of defence here in Northern Australia to keep these diseases out and also to make sure that we’re as well prepared as we possibly can be should the worst happen and we see an outbreak here.

So that’s why I’m pleased to make two announcements today here in Darwin. The first is that we’re releasing today Australia’s first ever National Lumpy Skin Disease Action Plan. Now, as I say, this has been developed in partnership with states and territories and industry, and that’s been really important because we want to make sure that all of us have got a role to play here. 

I’ve said consistently that biosecurity is a shared responsibility. I have responsibilities as the federal minister, and I’m stepping up to the plate. And by getting state and territory governments working with us along with industry, we’re all stepping up to the plate to make sure that we have a strong line of defence here in Northern Australia.

I’ll let you all read through that plan if you want to see some more detail, but there’s eight objectives that we’re working on through this plan. Some things we already have underway, some things are now going to be developed. And that’s ranging from preventing these diseases from coming here to managing any trade impacts if we were to see an outbreak to how we get information out to people as well. So it’s a very comprehensive plan, and I’m really pleased and grateful that we’ve had such good input from state and territory governments along with the industry.

The other announcement that I’m very pleased to make today is that we are announcing the creation of a Northern Australia Biosecurity Coordination Network. Now, we made a few references to this when I got back from Indonesia a couple of months ago and the funding has been sitting there. But what we can now announce is that we’ve got this coordination network underway, and it’s another example of very close cooperation between the federal government, states and territories and industry.

In essence, what this network is about is $4.3 million of funding that will be distributed across the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland as well as industry groups – and some of them are here today who are going to be receiving funding – to employ personnel to work with farmers and rural communities to first of all make sure that everyone understands what lumpy skin disease is, and what foot and mouth disease is, how to detect it if it does occur, and what to do if we do get an outbreak.

It's really important that we make sure that everyone who could be potentially affected by these diseases knows what to do and knows what to look for. So by employing those personnel both in the state and territory governments and in industry groups is that we’re taking a very grassroots approach to informing people and making sure that we’re ready – as ready as we possibly can be.

I’m happy to take some questions, but I know Kirbs is keen to have a say as well. And we’ve got some industry groups who are very happy to talk to you about what this plan means on the ground. Thanks again for coming.

PAUL KIRBY, NT MINISTER FOR AGRIBUSINESS AND FISHERIES: Thanks everyone for coming. This is a really historic day in the Northern Territory’s history and probably in the nation’s history. I can’t remember a time when we’ve had the Federal Minister, the local Minister and every industry body standing arm in arm to announce an action plan, because we know the severity and the importance of the diseases and how we need to proactively 
approach keeping them out.

The Action Plan will absolutely put into action proactive measures to get people across the expanse. We know how big the Northern Territory. When you encompass Western Australia and Queensland as well, they are broad expanses to try and cover. So the best way that we can keep this diseases at bay is to have eyes and ears out there to make sure that our fishos, that our farmers, that our industry people, that our rangers, that everybody that lives on country have the capacity to recognise changes in animals and plants, have the capacity to identify that. If we do get an incursion, the sooner we identify it the quicker we shut it down, the quicker our industry will recover. So it’s in everybody’s benefit.

And I think you’ll find this $4 million injection – believe $2 million of that is coming into the Northern Territory, working closely with the Cattlemen’s Association to make sure we do get 
that industry training right to spread across the Top End.

What we’ve also seen from the Northern Territory Government’s perspective was just in the last budget there was a $1.9 million injection into biosecurity because we knew how important it was that we try to keep in front of the game. We’ve seen with Covid very recently if you can keep in front of the game, if you can identify incursions very early, if you can swamp that and make sure that you do control it you’re in a much, much better position.

What I’m really proud to announce from the Northern Territory’s perspective is another $2.9 million has just been approved to inject into the biosecurity fund to make sure that our department and the people that do all of the grunt work there have the capacity to lean in to some extra funding, whether that’s employing people to get on the ground to help with this training, to get proactive plans in places for farms across the Northern Territory and stations as well, or whether it’s new machinery, new equipment and new training.

So we’re really proud to announce that extra $2.9 million in conjunction with the overarching federal $4 million and our previous injections. It stands us in really good stead. It shows how seriously we’re taking this – and we need to. It’s a billion-dollar industry just for the Northern Territory. So we will do everything we can to protect it.

I’ll hand over to Will Evans from the NT Cattlemen’s to explain how this injection of funding will assist them. Cheers.

WILL EVANS, CEO OF NT CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION: What today’s announcement is, is a vote of confidence in the NTCA, in the partnership that we’ve had with government since these diseases were detected in Indonesia at the start of the year. We’ve been very closely engaged with Canberra and our counterparts in the Northern Territory to try to do everything that we can to prepare producers for a potential incursion and the risk of that incursion.

We’ve obviously been calling for significant amounts of support for biosecurity at our borders, and the Government have responded. Our best line of defence has always been the preparedness of Indonesia. But our second best line of defence is preparedness of the Northern Territory cattle producers and land managers across the north being able to detect an incursion as quickly as possible and report it as quickly as possible so that we’re able to 
eradicate it as quickly as possible.

These diseases pose a very real threat to us in the Northern Territory. Today’s announcement is very welcomed by the industry. We’re very grateful for the collaboration that we’ve had with the Minister – both the Ministers, thanks guys - and we’re very happy to be out on the ground in the near future. We actually have already had staff out throughout the year going out engaging with producers all the way from the Northern Territory border to Queensland across the Northern Territory border with WA and right down to the south, talking with producers about how are they preparing for biosecurity, how are they preparing for the risk of incursion.

I think Covid taught us a number of valuable lessons, which is that biosecurity restrictions in the regions are much harder than they are in the cities. They’re very difficult for us to be able to manage. We don’t have the capacity that is often required to do these things, so today’s announcement will go a long way towards supporting us to fight this and keep this disease out of the Northern Territory for as long as we can.

Now, I’m going to hand over to Tom Dawkins from the NT Live Exports.

TOM DAWKINS, CEO NT LIVESTOCK EXPORTERS: Good afternoon, and I certainly associate myself with welcoming the remarks that Will and the two Ministers have made. At the heart of everything we’re doing here is the wellbeing of the animals that we care for. We want them healthy and we want them disease free.

We need to defend the livelihoods of the families that work across our industries, the countrymen who look after animals in their part of the Northern Territory. And from us from an export perspective today’s announcement also means that we’re really delivering on our ongoing commitment to support and safeguard the supply chains that we have going into countries like Indonesia, our partners there who do rely on territory cattle for fresh, affordable, 
healthy beef for their protein needs.

So this is a very welcome investment. And these are challenges that we face on many fronts. A biosecurity threat is one that has many dimensions, and today’s announcement, we do welcome because in terms of safeguarding the homefront to complement the work we’ve been doing in country that the Commonwealth has been leading, today is a breakthrough and very, very welcome. Thank you.

MURRAY WATT: Thanks, Tom. Did anyone else want to say anything before we take questions? All good? All right, I’m assuming questions will come to me to start with, but everyone’s happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Minister, why is it time now to consider signing up to the global methane pledge basically at this point when Anthony Albanese said last November that it wasn’t time?

MURRAY WATT: Well, as has been reported, our Government is considering signing up to the global methane pledge. And we’ve been consulting farm and industry groups like the ones behind me about this for some time now.
I think what’s become clear to us since we took office – and frankly I think what’s become clear to the industry since the election – is that the scare campaign that was run by the former Government about the global methane pledge prior to the (election) t was absolute crap. And we were all misled as to what was actually involved in this global methane pledge. I certainly formed the understanding, based on the scare campaign that was run and the way it was 
reported before the election, that the global methane pledge was setting some kind of binding target that was going to require the reduction of livestock herds and things like that. That is not the case.

The global methane pledge is an aspirational globe from the world to work towards reducing methane emissions by 2030. It is not a binding target on Australia or any of the other countries who have already signed up to it. There are 120 countries around the world that have already signed the global methane pledge, and they include some of the biggest beef production countries in the world like the USA and Argentina. The sky has not fallen in in those countries after they signed the global methane pledge, and that’s why we are considering this.

The other reason that we are considering this is that it’s important to our farm and agriculture groups and industries that we do take action on climate change and sustainability. All of our overseas trade partners are increasingly expecting Australian production to meet higher and higher standards around climate and sustainability. And if we don’t do that then we run the risk of losing those important markets and selling farmers short. And we don’t want to do that as a government.

I think Australians have had enough of the nonsense and the scare campaigns from the same people who are out there today saying the same things they’ve been saying for 10 years. 

People want to get on with it. And farmers want to get on with it. I’ve said before, every farm I’ve been on to since I’ve been the Minister, one of the very first things that gets raised with me 
is what more can we be doing around climate and sustainability. The industry is so far ahead of the National Party it’s not funny. And finally we’ve got a government that takes these issues seriously and wants to work with industry rather than pretending these things are going to go away.

JOURNALIST: Can you guarantee that you won’t introduce any New Zealand-style burp tax?

MURRAY WATT: We have absolutely no plans to introduce a tax or other measures that the New Zealand government is putting in place. New Zealand is in a different situation to Australia. In New Zealand agriculture forms nearly half of the emissions that their country as a whole produces. And that’s why they probably do need to think about more drastic actions than what we’re looking at here.

In contrast, in Australia agriculture comprises about 16 per cent of our emissions. So it’s apples and oranges that we’re looking at here. So we have no plans to introduce that. What we want to do is work cooperatively with industry, just like we have on biosecurity, to introduce sensible climate change measures, many of which the industry is already taking on. I mean, the Red Meat Advisory Council, Meat and Livestock Australia have had targets around carbon-neutral meat production by 2030 for years now.

So, as I say, the industry is well ahead of some of the same characters who are running around today saying the sky is going to fall in. I think Australians have had a gutful of it. They voted to change the government at the last election. We’ve been left behind on climate change. Agriculture has been left behind, and that only does a disservice to our agriculture industry.

JOURNALIST: There has been a lot of research into reducing emissions by changing the feed et cetera. But without any kind of levy or without reducing herd size how could we dramatically reduce the methane emissions from the Australian herd?

MURRAY WATT: Sure. Well, I’ll give you a government perspective, but I think Alastair, the CEO of the Red Meat Advisory Council, might be able to give you a perspective from industry as well.

You’re right – there are some really exciting opportunities around reducing methane emissions through changes to feed in livestock. Last week when I was in Tasmania I met with one of the leading companies that is producing asparagopsis - seaweed that can be used as feed supplement to bring down methane emissions.

The early trials of that technology show that we can potentially bring down methane emissions by up to 98 per cent. There are new technologies that are coming online, and we made an election commitment to support that industry as a way of supporting our agriculture and livestock industries as well.

So I’m very confident that we can do more without needing to resort to the measures New Zealand has put in place. And I might say, the industry has already come along in leaps and bounds in recent years in bringing down its methane emissions.

So, you know, we heard all sorts of stuff before the election from Barnaby Joyce and David Littleproud and Matt Canavan and all the rest of them about how we couldn’t do this and we couldn’t do that. Industry is doing it, and these guys just need to wake up to themselves and realise they’ve got to get out of their echo chamber, spreading all sorts of lies to scare people.

You know, let’s remember, these are the guys who went around for the last few years saying we were going to have a $100 lamb roasts. Didn’t happen. Electric vehicles were going to end the weekend. Didn’t happen. And now they’re out there with new lies People have had a gutful and they want to move on with it.

Alastair, you don’t have to undertake that kind of political rhetoric, but you might be able to talk about what the industry is already doing in terms of beef.

JOURNALIST: Can you introduce yourself as well.

ALASTAIR JAMES, CEO OF THE RED MEAT ADVISORY COUNCIL: Hi, my name’s Alastair James. I’m the CEO of the Red Meat Advisory Council. So as the Minister pointed out earlier, 
industry quite some time ago set itself its own target because sustainability of the red meat and livestock industry is key. So we’ve committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. Also as the Minister said, we are a long way down that track. We have already reached just shy of 59 per cent of the way there. So we’re very, very comfortable with the approach that the industry is taking in achieving that goal.

JOURNALIST: And is there anything else you’re looking at apart from changing the feed?

ALASTAIR JAMES: There’s a wide range of activities that industry can take to reach that goal of carbon neutrality. The industry’s service provider Meat and Livestock Australia is committed to achieving that goal and is undertaking the research and development to make sure that we can reach it.

JOURNALIST: For us lay people, can you tell me what some of those things are? Because I haven’t heard of any of the other ones yet.

ALASTAIR JAMES: My apologies, I’m not across the technical detail.

MURRAY WATT: Actually, we’ve got someone from Meat and Livestock Australia here who might be able to elaborate a bit more.

JOURNALIST: That would be great.

ALAN BECKETT, CHAIRMAN OF MEAT AND LIVESTOCK AUSTRALIA: Alan Beckett, Chairman of Meat and Livestock Australia. Look, just to reiterate, since the base year of 2005, emissions have reduced in the red meat industry by 59 per cent, which is fairly substantial. CN30 was really announced in 2017. Fairly aspirational, but really got the industry moving.

You asked who other things besides the food additives. Look, we’re doing a lot of research at the moment in pasture, in animal genetics, all with a view to trying to reduce emissions going forward. We’ve got asparagopsis which you hear a lot about, the seaweed additive. There’s also another additive called 3-NOP, or bovus, which is out of Europe, which has also got very similar emissions reduction capability but also productivity increases, which is really substantial.

So a lot of work is going into now about how you can get those products into the industry. We can get it into the feedlots, but how you get them on the bigger pasture areas is the challenge that we’ve got in front of us. But I think fairly exciting times, quite frankly, with a lot of the research that’s going on and the way it will reduce emissions.

JOURNALIST: So do you have any concerns about the Government potentially signing on to the global methane pledge?

ALAN BECKETT: No, not at all. In fact, as I’ve said, you know, we’ve already reduced emissions by 59 per cent. We actually think we’re ahead of the target. And if we get there by CN30, or carbon neutral by 2030, we’re a mile ahead of what the world and the US are talking about now. So we don’t have major concerns about it and we can work to it.

JOURNALIST: Your industry has for a long time been targeted by activists, when you look at the live cattle export industry. Are you concerned that activists will now target your industry on a climate basis and that in the future we could see something like we’re seeing happening in New Zealand?

ALAN BECKETT: Look, it’s something we’re obviously aware of and we are conscious of. But it’s not something that’s keeping me awake at the moment, quite frankly, as a producer myself, no. We’ve seen what’s happened with methane, what’s happening in the Netherlands, what’s happening in Ireland, now what’s happening in New Zealand. But, again, as the Minister has just stated, I mean, our agriculture here, especially the red meat industry, really is part of the solution, it’s not the problem.

We know the methane out of cattle it’s really about a 10-year lifespan compared to other methanes, whether it be coal and other products, it’s like a lifetime – it’s a hundred years. So with animal methane it’s sort of 10 years in the system and goes back into the plants, helps the plants and it goes around in a circle.

So, you know, it’s really important, I believe, to understand that livestock is part of the solution, not the problem.

JOURNALIST: Do you think it’s fair that, you know, you’re doing all this good work to really reduce your emissions whereas the gas industry, for example, is really preparing to make a lot more methane by extracting from fields like the Beetaloo Basin?

ALAN BECKETT: Look, that’s not part of my remit, I’m afraid. I’m just trying to fix the animals –

TOM DAWKINS: Because of Alan’s role as an RDC chairman, we don’t want him venturing into space that he's uncomfortable speaking about. But I can say that we look at Government Ministers in the eye and we trust their undertakings to support what our industry is doing because they know that the production of meat and management of countryside is what industry is already doing. And we’re comfortable with that undertaking that’s received some coverage to date.

What we’re not comfortable with at all, the livestock industry, is being passengers in the climate wars. We’re getting on with producing more beef more efficiently. And that represents an environmental dividend. So we stand by those credentials. We’re serious about providing protein to customers around the world, and we’re not going to be distracted by people that want 
us to become engaged in their sort of ongoing climate war debate.

We’re serious about getting on with the business of providing the world what’s an increasingly short supply of protein. We do it better than anyone else in the world. We’re proud of that and we won’t be distracted or jump at shadows about what others may or may not do.

JOURNALIST: Alan mentioned the figure of 59 per cent, which was national in terms of methane reduction from the sector. Do you have local figures, territory figures, in terms of methane reduction? And what monitoring capacity is there to check that going forward?

TOM DAWKINS: I won’t speak beyond my remit, so Will can hit me in the back of the head, but a lot of that initial work, Camden, has been done at the intensive feeding end of the chain, which we do supply in the territory into Queensland and elsewhere. We’re doing more work to see what we can do in a rangeland setting in the Territory.

But I say this: good methane management, just like good biosecurity, is good for business. It’s good for the bottom line, and it’s good for the ongoing resilience of these businesses. So that will increase further. If you need some more figures, we can chase it up.

But we stand by – in the Territory pastoral industry we absolutely stand by our role as custodians of the landscape here and the sustainability, the credentials of our product we’ll put that up against any critics or any other products coming from anywhere else around the world.

SPEAKER: Last couple of questions if you’ve got any guys.

JOURNALIST: So obviously yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the Bali bombings. What is your response to them actually playing the attack at the ceremony?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, I was very disappointed to see this happen and I think all Australians were, let alone the families of the victims of the Bali bombing. That was a tragic event that really hit our whole nation at the time. And I think that the ceremony that was held was a really important opportunity. And I think that the videos and the other things that went on at that ceremony were grossly insensitive to the families of victims of the Bali bombing. And our government is going to be registering our concerns with the Indonesian authorities about that.

JOURNALIST: Are you confident in the claims from Indonesia officials in Bali that there is no foot and mouth disease in Bali?

MURRAY WATT: Well, obviously I can only rely on the information that we’re receiving from the Indonesian government about that. We’ve obviously been working very cooperatively and closely with the government there by providing vaccines by training vets and other officials, by improving diagnostic measures as well. And what I can tell you, having been to Indonesia, is that I know that the Indonesian government is putting a particularly strong focus on preventing and eradicating the disease in Bali.

Most of the vaccines that Australia has already donated to Indonesia have actually gone to Bali and are being administered to animals in Bali. So it is a very high priority I know for the Indonesian government. And as I’ve said before, we’re happy to continue supporting them in any way we can to help them bring that outbreak under control.

JOURNALIST: Just a timing question in relation to the coordination network, when will it commence?

MURRAY WATT: My understanding is that it already has commenced in the sense of funding being provided to employ people. And as Will has said, that work is continuing and expanding work that has already occurred. We can come back to you with exact details about when extra staff are going to be employed. And, as I said, as with the Lumpy Skin Action Plan, some of the measures there are things that have begun while also flagging extra things that we’re now starting to work on.

JOURNALIST: Just one quick biosecurity question in relation to banana freckle, is the Commonwealth contributing anything into the efforts to overcome that problem?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I’m certainly conscious that banana freckle is a really serious disease for the banana industry here in the Northern Territory. As part of my visit today I’m actually going to be catching up with the NT farmers who are the representative group to hear a bit more about what we can do to assist there. I know the Northern Territory government is working really hard on that. 

It might be best if I get Paul to cover off what’s already happening at the local level.

I should mention as well while I’m up here, I’m not just meeting with people with big hats from the cattle industry – I’m also meeting with people with caps from the aquaculture industry and the farmers, I’m doing a roundtable with all the Indigenous landownership groups tomorrow as well. So keen to get as broad a cross-section of opinion as I can while I’m here. But, Paul, did you want to add anything there?

PAUL KIRBY: Yeah thanks, Murray. We do take our plant-based industry extremely seriously as well. Certainly that $3.9 million commitment – sorry, the $2.9 million commitment that we’ve just announced, that will certainly assist with plant-based incursions wherever we get them around the Northern Territory. Obviously banana freckle is out the front of that at the moment. There’s also a national fund which each state and territory chips into, and then when these diseases are registered, when they’re at a particular level that we need assistance, then the federal government through that fund does tip in to each and every outbreak that we have got, and they are certainly tipping into our assistance with the banana freckle outbreak at the moment.

So we look forward to working confidently with the Federal Government around that. We’ve got people on the ground getting out to these places to make sure that this disease is identified as quickly as possible. We have eradicated it before. We’re confident we’ll be able to do it again, and we’re putting as much effort behind that as we possibly can.