Interview with Fauziah Ibrahim and Kathryn Robinson, ABC News Breakfast Weekend

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
ABC NEWS BREAKFAST WEEKEND
SUNDAY, 2 JULY 2023

SUBJECTS: 43rd United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation conference; Food security; EU FTA; Meeting with Chinese Agriculture Minister

FAUZIAH IBRAHIM, HOST: Turning to other news now, and agriculture ministers from around the world will descend on Rome this week for the 43rd United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation conference.

KATHRYN ROBINSON, HOST: This comes as frustrations grow over Australia's free trade agreement with the EU stalls. For more, we're joined by Minister for Agriculture Murray Watt from Rome.  Good morning, or rather good evening to you, Minister.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Yes, well, it's almost about to become morning here so we can take one or the other, I guess!

KATHRYN ROBINSON: Yes, it is late, Murray, so thank you very much for staying up for us. Before we talk about the conference and your purpose that you have there in Rome, can you just take us through where Australia is at with the free trade agreement with the EU?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I guess that's one of the main reasons why I've come to this Food and Agriculture Organisation conference in Rome, Kath. We are at a very critical time for the negotiations between Australia and the EU for a free trade agreement. Obviously this effort is being led by Trade Minister Don Farrell, but I've been working very closely with him to try to make clear to the EU what Australia needs in order to be able to sign up to this deal. We've been very clear that we want to do a deal with the EU. We think that there's real benefits in it for both Australia and the EU, but we do need to see the EU's offer to Australia in terms of agricultural imports to be much higher than what they've got on the table at the moment. So it has been a really valuable opportunity while I've been here to meet with the EU Agriculture Commissioner and a number of EU - European agriculture ministers to make that point, so that they’re in no doubt about what Australia needs in order to sign up to this deal.

KATHRYN ROBINSON: Yeah, is the major sticking point, Minister, the commercial access for beef exports? And if that is the case and you don't get what you want, is it better just to strike a deal that's on the table rather than walking away?

MURRAY WATT: You're right, that is the major sticking point. And it's not just beef on its own. Beef is certainly a factor, but really across a range of different agricultural commodities beef, sheep, meat, sugar, dairy products and a range of others, the offer that the EU is making to Australia is just not good enough. What we've tried to do all along is come with a reasonable approach that's modelled on what the EU has agreed to with other countries. So we don't think that we're asking for anything unreasonable, but unfortunately, the EU hasn't been prepared to come to the party at the moment. But of course, the only way you get to change people's minds and influence them is by being here on the ground, meeting with them and we remain hopeful that we can still get to the point of having a deal, but we're still a fair way off that at the moment. And I think, if anything, it's been beneficial to be here because what I found is that a lot of the European agriculture ministers were of the view that the deal was nearly done and that Australia was quite happy with what was being offered. So it's obviously been very useful to make clear that that's not the case.

KATHRYN ROBINSON: Yeah I think I've read that some of the quotes were they were at the end game of those negotiations. You are in Rome there, Minister for the 43rd UN Food and Agricultural Conference. What other discussions apart – if we put this EU FTA aside - what other discussions will you be having around food security.

MURRAY WATT: Yeah well food security is clearly a very big topic for discussion right around the world at the moment. And I guess the EU is really in the front lin of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. We're obviously feeling the effects of that in Australia in terms of disruption of supply chains, increased cost to farmers, increased energy cost to all of us. So you can imagine how closely that is hitting a home right here in Europe and also to African countries which aren't too far from where I'm standing at the moment. So there's been a lot of discussions about food security, and we've certainly been advocating what we think is a good approach to dealing with that, which is about opening up more trade between different countries rather than subsidising inefficient production.

But I think the other positive that's come out of being here is that I was able to secure a meeting with the Chinese Agriculture Minister. That's the first time that the Australian and Chinese agriculture ministers have met face to face, or at all, for four years. And obviously, our Government has been putting a lot of work into stabilising the relationship with China. Despite the trade impediments we've had in place, or they've had in place, China still is our biggest agricultural export market. And while we're very pleased with some of the progress that's being made with some of those trade impediments, there's of course a lot more to be done. So I had an opportunity to put that case to face to the Chinese Agriculture Minister, and I feel that we got a good hearing and hopefully there'll be some more news about that before too long.

KATHRYN ROBINSON: Yeah, so, what sort of time frame are you thinking? We have seen some of those trade sanctions lift, but we know that over a couple of - two years ago, I think it was, wine, barley, lobster, timber had trade sanctions slapped on them. After those meetings with the Chinese counterparts, how hopeful are you of having all tariffs removed?

MURRAY WATT: Look, I think the signals are very positive. You can't predict what any country is going to do in the time frame that they're going to do it. But we've already seen in the last couple of months the reopening of imports from Australia of cotton, of horticulture products, of timber as well. There's obviously a process now underway that China has agreed to, to resolve the barley issues. We're hopeful that they'll do the same thing when it comes to the wine impediments that remain in place. So all of the signals are good and the Chinese Agriculture Minister recognised that there is very high appetite in China for some of Australia's high quality agricultural product, including some of the ones that are still impeded. So that certainly gives me hope that the progress will be made. I wouldn't want to put a time frame on it, but obviously by having these meetings and continuing to push the case, that will hopefully push things along.

KATHRYN ROBINSON: Minister for Agriculture, Murray Watt, joining us live from Rome. Thank you very much.

MURRAY WATT: Pleased to talk.