Interview with Ben Dobbin, Rural Queensland Today

EO&E TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
RURAL QUEENSLAND TODAY WITH BEN DOBBIN
WEDNESDAY, 10 JULY 2024

SUBJECTS: Delivering on the Albanese Government’s commitment to phase out live sheep exports by sea; new beef export establishment approved for China market; restoring access to China market; nuclear.

BEN DOBBIN, HOST: Welcome back to Rural Queensland Today. We are lucky to have the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Senator and the Honourable Murray Watt joining us this morning. Now, the numbers don't lie. They don't lie. And you're right about that. It's been a contentious issue. Is there any chance because it's now gonna go to an election, this. And we all understand that the Opposition at the moment are saying: “we will lift this straight away.” So, this will be an election issue, and in Western Australia, there are governments and it's very divided. Are you concerned you're going to die on the stake over this when it could have been resolved?

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Well, I guess that'll be a question for the Australian people, and especially the Western Australian people at the next election. I am confident, though, that this still has the support of the vast majority of the Australian community and also in Western Australia. Now, I know the industry don't like it when I point this out, but a survey that was commissioned last year, admittedly by the RSPCA, but of all Western Australians - a random sample of Western Australians - showed that 70 per cent of Western Australians support our policy to phase out the industry. So, you know, obviously, people have a right to vote however they want and have a right to campaign on whatever issue they want to. And I know the industry will be fighting this at the next election, but I'm confident that this is something that is supported by the majority of the community.

And as I say, I think it is a substantial amount of taxpayers’ money, you know, contributed from people all across the country towards an industry that only operates in one state that has been shrinking for 20 years and that has a really positive future. I mean, at the same time live exports have been going through the floor when it comes to sheep, the amount of sheep meat that we're selling the world is going through the roof, and that's where the future is. It's the value adding, it's the onshore jobs that come with it, as well as good returns for farmers. So, I'm really confident that just as other states have got out of live exports of sheep that have built really profitable sheep industries around wool and sheep meat, I reckon that's the future for WA as well.

BEN DOBBIN: Do you think $107 million is going to build a processing plant, though? In all seriousness, that's a drop in the ocean with what they need to recover that industry. That's probably one of the areas where I struggle with. Do you honestly think that's enough money?

MURRAY WATT: I do. And as I say, that's well over the annual income for this industry. It's about five times what the Western Australian Government estimated would be the economic impact of this decision. So, I think that is a substantial amount to put on the table from taxpayers. The processors that we've been speaking to over quite some time basically tell us that there is enough abattoir capacity in WA to handle the extra number of sheep. One of the major processors pointed out to us that the number of sheep we're talking about that gets sent by live export, we process that amount of sheep in about five or six days across the country. We're not talking about a number that we can't manage. But the processors probably do need help when it comes to things like cold storage, feedlots, and of course, farmers will need a bit of assistance to transition towards more onshore processing rather than live exports. So, you know, I don't think that we're talking about massive changes that need billions of dollars of support. We're talking about a relatively small change, given that we already process about 85 per cent or more of the sheep that are raised in WA-

BEN DOBBIN: What about- [phone breaks up] can you talk to me? Let's leave it at that...let's just leave it at that. We're both going to see -

MURRAY WATT: -I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

BEN DOBBIN: OK, let's move forward to something positive. New beef export establishment approved for the China market. This was announced last week and it's a good news story. China is back on board and there are new licences being issued.

MURRAY WATT: That's right, Dobbo. I mean, I think the reopening of trade with China is a good news story for ag right across the country. You're right, last week we were able to announce that for the first time since 2017, we've had a new export licence approved for a beef processor here in WA. It's a processor down in Dandenong in Victoria. But we're certainly hopeful that that's the first of many. And I know there are a number of processors that haven't previously been able to get into China who are keen to do so.

But at the same time, what we've been able to do is restore access for some of the processors that were previously suspended by China. I think we're up to about eight different processors - beef processors - across Australia who had been suspended back in there. Now there's two to go and we're working hard to resolve those. And, of course, that's in addition to restoring access for barley, for wine, for hay, for timber, for a whole bunch of products. As of a couple of months ago, we worked out that if you look at the products that were previously suspended by China that are now back in, that was worth an extra $3 billion in exports just for those commodities, and that number is going to keep on growing. So, I think the work that we've done, our government with industry, and industry have played a big role in stabilising our relationship with China, that's producing real dividends for our farmers, our processors and the whole ag supply chain.

BEN DOBBIN: Yeah, you're right, and it is a great news story, and you need to be congratulated. That's opened back up and there's been a lot of work that's gone on behind the scenes. The nuclear issue - yesterday I had Scott Stewart on from a state base with the first turning of the copper string. He spent a lot of money; it's going to be a $5 billion operation the copper string and for energy. Why is the Labor Party so dead set against nuclear?

MURRAY WATT: Because it's the most expensive way to produce power and it will take at least 15, 20 years to build, if it can happen at all. My view and anywhere I go in Australia is that people want cheaper power. They don't want more expensive power.

BEN DOBBIN: Yeah, but renewables aren't there. You know, renewables are not the answer, Murray, completely. And you understand that. You'd be talking to people in the ag sector. We've got wind farms going up on prime agricultural land, we've got dramas everywhere with it. Surely there's a mixing pot. There's a mixing pot. We've got to have a little bit of everything. There's a happy medium.

MURRAY WATT: I think we've got to have a little bit of everything that actually stacks up and that isn't more expensive than it needs to be. And we've always said that it can't be just renewables, we do need gas to back it up and that's why we are opening up new gas production as well. I know David Littleproud and others run around saying that we're only about renewables. That's just not true. We are actually supplying more gas and opening up more gas to back up that renewables. But you're right, you know, there are farmers that I meet who don't like renewables on their property or on their neighbour's property. But equally, I've got to tell you, I've met a lot of farmers who are pretty happy with the income they're receiving from the wind farms, the solar farms, the transmission lines that are on their properties or on their neighbour's properties. There's a lot of farmers I've met who have said that, particularly when it comes to drought, they like the idea that they've got some secure income that's going to keep coming in year after year. There are farmers who are getting paid $50,000 per turbine on their property. That is real income that is helping diversify farm income as well. So, I think we need to have a bit of a balanced feel about that.

BEN DOBBIN: It’s dividing communities Murray, like, and I say this with-

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I think nuclear will, too.

BEN DOBBIN: That's valid.

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I think, because, I mean, the reality, there are questions about where waste will be stored, how it will be stored, what the impact on ag would be if it went wrong. But more than anything else, our issue with nuclear is it is the most expensive way to produce power. Even the CSIRO, who I think people respect as an independent body, they're not political, they're scientists. They've put out a report recently that says nuclear power would be eight times more expensive than the path that we're on at the moment. I don't meet anyone in Australia who wants to pay eight times more for their power bill than they're currently paying. So, if it was a cheaper way of doing it, it would have happened a long time ago. Other countries do it, sure, but other countries don't have the sunshine that we have, the solar resources we have, the wind resources we have. What we're about is producing the cheapest, cleanest, most efficient power that we can, and that is renewables backed up by gas and batteries.

BEN DOBBIN: Appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so much for giving me some time. Good on you, Murray Watt, the Ag Minister. Really appreciate it this morning.