Interview with Bill McDonald, 4BC Mornings

EO&E TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
4BC MORNINGS WITH BILL MCDONALD
TUESDAY, 18 JUNE 2024

SUBJECTS: Queensland farmers are big winners from resumption of trade with China; Premier Li visit; Australia-China relationship; Albanese Government delivering for Queensland’s Bruce Highway.

BILL MCDONALD, HOST: The thawing of the trade relationship with China has reaped benefits for Queensland. It certainly has after yesterday. An extra $720 million has been injected into the state’s economy since the end of trade blocks on Aussie products such as beef, barley and cotton – huge growth in agricultural exports to China in recent months is reflected in some new federal data. Queensland’s total agriculture exports to China soured to $2.9 billion last year, with beef and veal the top commodities racking up $1 billion in sales and this was up from $766 million in 2022, with this year expected to be even better following the lifting of restrictions on four Queensland beef producers this month.

Joining us now to have a chat about our trade relationship with China is Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, Good morning. Before we get onto that, I believe you've been out with the Premier this morning on that Bruce Highway project near Murrumba Downs. Have you had the hard hat and the high vis on?

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Absolutely, Bill. You know how much politicians like doing that kind of stuff, get in the gear. But no, it's great to be back on home soil here in Brisbane today and yeah, I've just been out with the Premier, Steven Miles, in his electorate actually, just on the north side of Brisbane there. We were turning a sod to show the start of early works on some new upgrades we're making with the Queensland Government to the Bruce Highway.

So, I think a lot of your listeners will have got clogged on the highway there around the Anzac Avenue interchange just on the way out to North Lakes there. So, basically this is stage one of the upgrade and it's all about extending some of the entry and exit ramps off the highway between the Dohles Rocks Road and Anzac Avenue interchanges. As I say, I know personally I've been caught in that congestion quite a lot myself.

BILL MCDONALD: I was caught in it yesterday. It's a notorious spot, isn't it?

MURRAY WATT: It sure is. So, yes, another good investment between the Albanese Government and the Miles Government to keep that traffic flowing and help people get to and from work a lot quicker.

BILL MCDONALD: Sounds good. Look let's talk about China. The end of trade disruptions in the past three years. It's been a real boon for certain industries and primary producers right across the state, hasn't it?

MURRAY WATT: It sure has, Bill. I mean, this has been a great story nationally, but we've got some really good figures that have just come out today showing how much it's meant for Queensland farmers and our ag supply chain in general. Really what this comes down to is that by stabilising that relationship with China, and you would have seen we put a lot of work into that over the last couple of years, that's actually now paying real dividends for Queensland farmers, for our beef processes and really for the whole Queensland economy. And in the end, what it means is more jobs for Queenslanders and more export dollars for Queenslanders.

So, you read out some of those figures there. But all up, just in agriculture alone, we've been able to inject another $720 million into the Queensland economy. And that's just from the commodities where we had suspensions in place. Of course, there's a range of other goods that get sold to China as well, but for things like beef and barley, cotton in particular has been a big winner. But even wine, things like that as well. We're now getting them back into China and already in the last few months we've been able to get $720 million worth of extra exports. So, that's terrific news for all Queenslanders.

BILL MCDONALD: How much more work is needed by the government though so healthy trade continues with China?

MURRAY WATT: I think this will be something we'll need to keep working on. I participated yesterday in Canberra in some of the meetings the Prime Minister had with the Chinese Premier, Premier Li. And there was a very constructive discussion that occurred. It's clear, I think, that both countries are keen to keep this relationship on track and avoid some of the problems that we have in the past.

You know, we've made clear to China, as we have to the Australian public, that we're never going to agree on everything, and we always reserve the right to express our views and stand up for our national interests and our Australian values. But it doesn't mean that you can't have dialogue. And I think that was the real problem we got to under the former government is that literally when they tried to put in phone calls to the Chinese Government, it went straight through to voicemail. There wasn't anyone on the other end of the line. And at least if you've got dialogue, you can talk about some of those disagreements, but you can also actually make really great progress on the trade front as well.

BILL MCDONALD: Has there been pushback on a lot of other issues that, you know, have been simmering around for a while in terms of military and other aspects with China outside of trade?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well, I think all Australians and all Queenslanders have been concerned to see some of those recent incidents that have involved Australian Defence Force personnel and the Chinese military. Those issues were raised again yesterday by the Prime Minister, as they have been previously with the Chinese authorities. And I think, again, one of the positive things to come out of these meetings in the last couple of days is that there's now been an agreement between our two countries to put in place better communication systems for when we do see these sorts of incidents arise. And, of course, what the actual aim is, is to stop them happening in the first place.

So, again, there were a number of issues that we raised in the meetings where China doesn't necessarily share our opinion. Similarly, there were things they put on the table that we're not always going to agree with. But as I say, it's very good to be having dialogue again with, let's face it, a superpower in our region. And there's a lot of positive that can come from there.

BILL MCDONALD: Was it firm and forthright in putting the position forward in representing Australians and Australian's interests?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I would say it was firm, forthright, but respectful as well. You know, we didn't get in there and get the megaphone out and shout at people. That's not a very productive way to go. And, frankly, we saw the consequence of that when we saw that approach under the former government.

So, there is a way of doing this with, I think, being firm, standing up for your national interest and standing ground, but being respectful at the same time.

BILL MCDONALD: There's also been a bit of fallout, of course, over the blocking of Chinese Australian journalist Cheng Lei. Why wasn't that addressed by the PM? And is it a bit fanciful to think that he wasn't aware of it?

MURRAY WATT: No, I genuinely think that he wasn't aware, because my understanding is that he went straight into the press conference from the big official lunch, and I don't think he'd even been informed about it occurring. To be honest. I was in a similar position myself yesterday afternoon. I did a round of media, and it was only because one of my staff let me know that it occurred that I even knew about it.

So, you know, things move pretty quickly in Canberra and you're not always across every single thing that happens. But even when he was asked about it, though, the Prime Minister made clear that he thought it was unacceptable. You know, this is a free country. People have a right to turn up to events and that kind of behaviour shouldn't be going on in Parliament House of all places.

BILL MCDONALD: Was there a lot of restrictions and requests from China, the China entourage to, I guess, craft a scene that looked like the Chinese Premier was popular here and there were crowds coming to see him and extra security put in place to keep protesters away. Sanitised, I guess, in a way.

MURRAY WATT: Well, look, I wasn't involved in the intimate details of planning the visit, but certainly whenever we have a state leader, an overseas leader, attend Australia, there's always an increase in security around Parliament House and around Canberra in general. I'm not aware of anything different sort of happening in this occasion. But I think, again, it was a good thing that we were able to have both people who were supportive of the Chinese Government and who had concerns with the Chinese Government out to express their view.

You know, we made the point in the meetings that Australia is a democracy. We do have a right to protest, peacefully of course. We have a free press who reports on these things. And sometimes, Bill, we don't always get a good rap ourselves from our friends in the media, but that's just how it works in Australia, and I think that's one of the things we really cherish.

BILL MCDONALD: Was any discussion had with the Chinese Premier on the relationship with our Pacific Island neighbours and the South China Sea and China's presence there?

MURRAY WATT: Yes, certainly those issues were raised, Bill, again, in the meetings that I attended, and I'm sure they were raised in some of the private meetings between the leaders as well. It's no secret that there is, as Penny Wong described on the weekend, there's a permanent contest now in the Pacific. Unfortunately, again, under the former government we did see them abandon the Pacific and crack jokes about, you know, water lapping at their feet and that kind of thing. And that allowed China to get in there in a much bigger way. What we've been doing since being elected a couple of years ago is really deeply re-engaging with the Pacific.

In fact, later today I'm heading off to Papua New Guinea with a number of Australian Ministers led by Penny Wong and the Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. And that's all about making sure that we do have strong relationships in our region. But, yeah, those issues were raised with China, as were the issues in the South China Sea.

BILL MCDONALD: What was Premier Li's response to those concerns?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, again, I think that's an example of an issue where we don't completely agree with China, and we do have different perspectives.

But I think the important thing is to make sure that we are putting Australia's view on these things, and we'll keep trying to persuade China, as well as many other countries, the view of the Australian government and the Australian people.

BILL MCDONALD: So, any of their build up and their presence will continue by the sound of things?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I think it's pretty clear from China's perspective that they're keen to play a much bigger role in the Pacific than they have in the past. And what's important from Australia's perspective is that we keep our relationships strong and invest in the Pacific. From an agriculture point of view, in my portfolio, we make a lot of investments in the biosecurity of the Pacific as well. That's partly in our interests because it helps stop diseases getting into our country and affecting our agriculture sector, but it also allows them to build up their own agriculture sector.

So, there's all sorts of ways that we can be cooperating with the Pacific and what that does is really keep that partnership that we've historically had with the Pacific really strong and that's more important than ever these days.

BILL MCDONALD: Was Taiwan mentioned in the discussions with Premier Li as well? And Australia obviously, America being a key ally of Australia, America is supporting Taiwan. Was that discussion on the table?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, it was. And as you can see, Bill, pretty much every contentious issue that people would expect to be raised, was raised yesterday, and Taiwan again was certainly raised with the Premier. You know, as we've said before, is that the Australian government's position, and this is really a bipartisan one, is that we favour the status quo, we favour keeping things as they are. I think China understands that that's our position. What we want to make sure of is that that doesn't become a real flashpoint for conflict in our region. So, keeping the system as it is at the moment, we think is the best way to make sure of that.

BILL MCDONALD: All right, just one more quick question before back on, on these tariffs. In the past year, tariffs and other blocks on about $19 billion worth of products have been lifted. Restrictions remain on the two beef processes and the export of lobster. When could we see them possibly lifted?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, we raised these issues with the Chinese government yesterday in the meeting and we have done that consistently over the last couple of years. And you're right, Bill. We need to remember that as positive as it is that we've made such good progress, there are a couple of issues outstanding.

I've raised, again, the issues about the two beef processes, which are both Queensland-based. So, there's a good Queensland reason to back this in as well, apart from the whole country. We'd certainly be hopeful that we can continue making progress and that the visit that's occurred here and the representations we made will see those suspensions lifted quite quickly. You can never quite predict this with whatever another country is going to do, but we're going to keep up the fight until those suspensions are lifted.

BILL MCDONALD: I've got to say, Minister, it sounds like a lot of stuff was put on the table. Australia put their position quite firmly, but a lot of it sounds like it was rebuffed, and China is very much in the driver's seat with a lot of this.

MURRAY WATT: Well, I think the important thing is that we do push these issues. And I think the fact that there is some evidence that the representations Australia has been making are working, whether it be those trade suspensions lifted, whether it be having the Australian Chinese journalist Cheng Lei back in Australia. You know, she was in detention when we first came to office, and it was only as a result of the advocacy of Ministers in our government that she's safely back here in Australia now.

So, I think there is some progress, and it shows that China is willing to listen to us. There's going to be some things we disagree about. We recognise that. But we'll always stand up for Australia's interests and fortunately that is starting to pay dividends.

BILL MCDONALD: I really appreciate your time. Thanks very much.

MURRAY WATT: No worries.