TRANSCRIPT: NORTHERN CO-OPERATIVE MEAT COMPANY PRESS CONFERENCE, 11 September 2020
11:09AM
E&OE
Subjects: Northern Co-Operative Meat Company Funding;
WITH: THE HON. KEVIN HOGAN MP, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, MEMBER FOR PAGE.
KEVIN HOGAN
Look, it's wonderful to all be together again today from yesterday, at least we are in the dry today. Yesterday, we were all down the highway getting blown away and wet. But look, wonderful to be here with John today as the Chair of the North Coast Meat Company and obviously Simon as the CEO of the North Coast Meat Company and also the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Michael, great to have you here today as well.
Look, this is an important day for us. I know it's an important day for the meatworks because today obviously we're announcing that a funding approval from the Federal Government of $1.5 million towards a $6 million project for retail ready products in the meatworks, is going to start work very soon.
And this is significant because we all know – I know everyone in this room would be very well aware that the meatworks industry at this point in time employ around 1,000 people, sometimes well over 1,000 people. That makes them the biggest private employer north of Newcastle. They are a significant employer, not just for Casino, they are a significant employer for this whole region.
So, the health of their business is important for the health of our local economy. So that's why we were very happy as the Federal Government to commit this money. That's why we're very happy that it's going ahead.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Indeed and look it is great to be here with Jonathon and some of the staff from the Northern Co‑operative Meat Company and of course, my great friend and colleague, the Member for Page, my Assistant Minister, Kevin Hogan. It's all about partnerships and today we are partnering with the Northern Co‑operative Meat Company in what is going to prove a boon for employees, what is going to prove a boon for the employment prospects of this region and beyond.
Hundreds of jobs already employed here at this great facility and we're expanding that. And we expand that because companies such as this, co-operatives such as this are willing to invest in the region, are willing to put their money on the line, along with ours, to boost productivity, to boost the prospects of people here.
The productivity of this region, of course, as we know, it is one of the great beef capitals of Australia. Michelle Landry, our colleague up at Rockhampton often claims it. We know as well here in New South Wales, it certainly is leading the way when it comes to beef production and certainly when you get products such as this, products such as the Wagyu in this cryovac form, what we want to do is make sure that we've got more of that, all for the domestic market. More of that, the chilled beef going out of our country to make sure that we get those exports up.
This is an important announcement. Yesterday, we were in partnership with the New South Wales Government for another delivery on the Pacific Highway. So it's all about partnerships. It's all about growing the economy. It's all about growing jobs. We're making sure that, whether it's the electorate of Page here in northern New South Wales, whether it's right across the country and certainly in regional Australia that we've got those job prospects. That we've got the economy ticking away as it should be; and we admire co-operatives such as this that want to put their money on the line, their investment in backing their region, in backing their people, in backing their growth.
That's what it's all about. Proud to stand here beside John and Simon and of course, Kevin to make sure this is happening, a $1.55 million investment towards a $6 million facility, so important for the region, so important for the State and indeed the nation. Simon, I'll let you say a few words and happy to take any questions.
SIMON STAHL
Look, finally it's a bit of good news for us too. It's been a whirlwind, you know, year for all of us and I think for our community and for us here as a business, this is really good news. What I am encouraged by, the Deputy PM talking about working together and, you know, Australia's got to pull itself out of a hole. It's going to be together and we have to work hard together. There's plenty of opportunity in our industry. This is only the start of it and I'm really excited by that. So thanks very much.
JOURNALIST
Could Simon explain a bit about the product? Where it's going – explain a bit about how that's come about?
SIMON STAHL
Yes, look, a couple of years ago, you know that we do the processing, we do boxed beef and we ship it domestically and overseas. A few years ago there was some interest in doing retail‑ready packaging, such as this out of the export established that would go overseas into the market. So we started investing in that equipment. A couple of years ago we were fortunate to have grown that business and grown some of the domestic offerings for our operators. And so it's really an important extension of our business to go further into the supply chain.
JOURNALIST
How is the meatworks doing without the China contract? Is this going to help?
SIMON STAHL
Yes, look, the biggest interruption to us has been COVID. Part of our business is hides, the tannery that we have and those sales actually collapsed in March of this year. So that's been the biggest impact on our business here. China had certainly before COVID, China was 10 per cent of our business. During COVID, when China was the only market open, there was a little bit more product going to China. But look, we've got to diversify and there's plenty of other opportunities out there. We've got free trade through Indonesia. That's an exciting prospect and Britain and EU this year. So, you know, whilst we never want to be out of any market, I prefer to look on the positive side of where we can go.
JOURNALIST
How has Queensland border closures impacted your staff here?
SIMON STAHL
We've been lucky with our staff – direct staff. What's troubling us is we get serviced a lot out of Queensland and that's the real technical people who look after equipment like this. The irony is we've probably got to fly them up from Sydney, which is a higher risk place than northern New South Wales. But anyway, look, I'll leave that to the Border Commissioner and the State people, but it is a worry that we can't get those services out of Brisbane, for sure.
JOURNALIST
Is there a timeline for this new project you're looking at?
SIMON STAHL
Yeah, we have the support of our Local Council. We hope to get the DA done as soon as possible and hope to be up and running this time next year.
JOURNALIST
And how important is this factory to the local community?
KEVIN HOGAN
Look, as I said earlier, as the biggest private employer, not just within Casino, but indeed the wider region for hundreds of kilometres, this is an essential business. I mean, 1200 direct jobs means that it creates, you know, it supports a town. It supports 13,000 people when you look at indirect jobs created because of the direct jobs.
So the health of the meatworks is a reflection of the health of our local economy. So it’s really important that we support projects like this. If they want to be cost competitive, they want to be retail and product competitive and we will do anything we can to assist them do that.
JOURNALIST
[Inaudible]
SIMON STAHL
Absolutely, because of diversity, you know, just putting that extra bit of value in the process creates income. So it does absolutely give us a better future as we diversify through this. We're doing the same at our pork facility. So it's very important to actually keep on innovating and going up the supply chain for us.
JOURNALIST
Simon, is the impact of COVID a real problem for you here?
SIMON STAHL
Look, we've been fortunate in this area. We've implemented all the protocols that everyone has and so it hasn't been difficult for us to get them to work. We've made a lot of changes through the business, as everyone has. I'm pleased to say everyone has really stepped up to another level during this.
JOURNALIST
[Inaudible]
SIMON STAHL
Yes, certainly. The backpackers offer us some flexibility. And so they're very important to the regional economy, just as important to us. A lot of them have had to go home so we've actually got the jobs there available for people. And I think in the last week or two since we've gone out to the papers and we've had a bit of media around, there's actually been a lot of local applicants coming in. So that's very encouraging.
JOURNALIST
So this is about creating new jobs and you've got a shortage of workers. You’re here with the Deputy Prime Minister, have you spoken to him about the calls to decrease JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments to entice workers to actually come and work for you when the backpackers go home?
SIMON STAHL
Look, we've got a couple of ideas. But I'm going to talk about that privately with the Deputy PM after this. We've got a couple of unique ideas, but look, I don't want to discuss it out in the open and I think the strategy that we might have, it gives us a bit of an advantage. So I'll keep it to myself for now.
JOURNALIST
And Michael McCormack, what's your position on that?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
So the stakes are high. You should try and say it with a straight face. But in all sincerity and seriousness, this is not an uncommon problem, particularly meatworks around Australia, they're finding it difficult to have Australians returning to work. Some of them have been on JobSeeker payments and some of them, of course, have continued the connection with a business on JobKeeper.
That's why we are transitioning the assistance that we have provided through COVID‑19. It's been very, very necessary. It's kept employees engaged with their workforce. It's kept business doors open. But the time for that, you know, it will be eventually that we have to, of course, wean Australians off that assistance as we go through the back end of COVID and hopefully a vaccine is not too far away.
Hopefully, we can transition the economy back to some sort of level as it was pre‑COVID. These are difficult times and we want to continue to provide the assistance that will be needed to help those businesses which are lacking employees, and which are struggling to reopen their doors, but at the same time we do need to, of course make sure that we get Australians back to work as best as possible.
I'm really pleased that of the 1.3 million Australians who did find their hours either cut to zero or substantially reduced earlier in the year, 700,000 of them have been re‑engaged midyear through COVID and it's been difficult. Of course, we've had the second wave in Victoria. States have closed their borders. This has been a very, very difficult time.
And we do thank regional Australians, in particular, for the efforts they've gone to to maintain all the correct things, social distancing, downloading the app, making sure that if they had to self‑isolate, they did so, obeying the quarantine rules and following the principles and guidelines that were asked of them by people such as Professor Brendan Murphy and Professor Paul Kelly and other health experts.
We're not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. I admire people like Simon and John for doing what they're doing to keep these sorts of businesses open and to keep Australians and others besides fed, this is a very difficult time and of course, we all know that people still need their protein, that people still need their supermarket shelves to be stocked. And again we thank those true heroes of COVID‑19, not just our frontline medical personnel, but those truck drivers who kept those supermarket shelves stocked right throughout this crisis.
JOURNALIST
Is it time to start opening our State borders again?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, I believe so. But again, you know, we'll take the best advice, as we've done the whole way through from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee that we've worked very hard and with our health experts, we've worked very hard.
With our States, we've encouraged them to, where they can, lift those border restrictions. It's been very onerous and difficult on schoolkids, on people, particularly from this region who normally access Queensland's health services. I think it's beyond the pale that anybody would suggest that a State health service is only for those people in that State and of course, that's led to, you know, great trauma and heartache amongst the community.
It's time for people to exercise more compassion when it comes to people being able to attend funerals of their loved ones. These are difficult times. I respect Premiers that have their control over their own jurisdiction, but we do need to lift those border restrictions. We do need to get planes back in the air, because planes in the air mean jobs on the ground. We do need to be able to get farmers to be able to have the ease of access, just like truck drivers have.
I know David Littleproud is working very hard on the agricultural code, but that needs to be consistent across the nation, not just a few States here and there are taking up that code, but right across the nation. We are one country, we are one nation and we need to make sure that we act like that.
JOURNALIST
Can I get onto the politics of today, please? What do you make of this stoush the New South Wales Coalition over koalas and the backdown today by John Barilaro?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, I'm not quite sure whether it's such a back down. I haven't – and I know there hasn't been a statement made by Mr Barilaro or indeed Premier Berejiklian as yet and we'll wait to see what comes of that.
National Party people will always speak up for farmers and whilst I appreciate this has been a difficult time for negotiations, the fact is that it's important for people to understand that farmers need to have the rights to do on their property what they need to be able to do. And, you know, we all like cuddly furry koalas. We do. It's part of Australia's national iconic marsupial and you know, our branding as a nation and I appreciate that the koala colonies were hard hit during the bushfires. Their population numbers were clearly affected.
But by the same token, we need our farmers to be able to have their rights too and we need to be able to protect those rights. I just hope that what goes on from here can be discussed where it should have been all along and that's behind closed doors.
JOURNALIST
But you're saying you support Mr Barilaro's stance. Are you surprised he's –
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, I'm supporting it as a resolution to this issue, to this problem, and get on and talk about the important things that matter to people in New South Wales. People elected the New South Wales Government. They elect the Liberals and they elected the Nationals to govern them and to talk about these things that are absolutely vital and crucial to them. And at the moment, I believe that's probably more COVID than it is anything else.
So let's let the Government get on with that job, making sure that they protect people in New South Wales, making sure that they get the economy where it needs to be, the health outcomes where they need to be, and I know that Gladys and John are working hard to achieving that. And for those discussions about koalas and farmers' rights, let's see those behind closed doors, resolve them, let's get on with the job that they were elected to do.
JOURNALIST
The New South Wales Nationals are the ones who brought it to a head. Do you think Mr Barilaro should remain leader?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, that's a matter for the New South Wales party. That's a matter for the New South Wales Nationals in their party room. Leadership of a political party is a gift of the party room. I'm very humbled and privileged to serve as the leader of the Nationals at a federal level, and I appreciate that that is a gift of the party room, Kevin is one of those members of the party room and I'm very humbled to do this job. And I know that John, no doubt, is very humbled to do the job that he has been elected to do by the New South Wales Nationals.
JOURNALIST
[Inaudible]
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, that would be a matter between John and Gladys. I'm glad that I've got a very good relationship with Scott Morrison. We don't always agree, but when we do disagree we generally do it behind closed doors and we generally get the outcomes that we need for and on behalf of the people we serve.
People don't want to see politicians squabbling. They want, particularly at this time, which is very, very difficult, COVID‑19, people have lost their jobs, people are worried about their health outcomes, people are worried about their future. Many people in Australia are locked down, they're facing restrictions, they can't get to see their loved ones, other than on a Zoom meeting or a teleconference.
What they want to do is they want to know that their politicians are getting along and sorting the sorts of things that they need to be sorting out behind closed doors. I think that's so important. That's what Scott Morrison and I do and you don't often see us squabbling, albeit we get on very well, but not every time does everybody agree. Kevin and I usually agree, sometimes we don't, but we sort our issues out behind closed doors and we do them for and on behalf of the people we represent. That's, I think, the most important thing.
JOURNALIST
Do you think Mr Barilaro is forever going to be known as the leader who cried wolf, or rather koala?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
That will be a matter for the media, I suspect. I don't want to enter into that sort of commentary. I used to be a journalist once. Sure, I appreciate there's going to be lots of fun over Blinky Bill labels and all those sorts of things, you know, too much to bear, get all that.
But I just want to get on with making sure that people understand and know that we've got their backs during COVID‑19, they've lost their jobs that we're trying to find more employment for them. That's why I'm here today talking about a $1.55 million investment in this important meatworks facility. That's why I'm here with two people who are backing themselves, taking that risk, employing people. That's what I think people want to hear about. They don't want to hear about petty squabbles about koalas and those sorts of things. They want to read about hope and greater prospects.
JOURNALIST
Hasn't this highlighted the bigger issue as to whether or not the Liberals are actually listening to The Nationals. Do the Liberals in New South Wales and Canberra and the other States too often ignore the issues which are important to regional Australia?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
I know Scott Morrison very much listens to The Nationals. I know he very much listens to me and I hark back to the day when he took over as Liberal leader. Important distinction there between Liberal leader and Prime Minister. He was elected by his party room to lead the Liberals after Malcolm Turnbull was not going to continue as the leader of the Liberal Party and Scott and I met to work out the path going forward.
And I talked about drought. At the time it was biting New South Wales, indeed the nation very, very hard. And we both had a bit of paper. We both had something written on it. We both turned it around and we both had drought, visit a drought community, get this sorted. Make sure we've got the right assistance. And we both had the same understanding that regional Australia really matters.
Scott understands regional Australia. I know Gladys Berejiklian does too. I know she does. I know she cares. I know New South Wales is just not Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong. And I just hope that in the future that, you know, the media plays its part as well.
What people want at the moment is hope and empathy. We are providing that at a federal level. We're providing the assistance that Australia needs, $314 billion of assistance to make sure that people have their right hours of work, to make sure that they've got a vaccine, you know, down the track and that it will be freely available. They're the sorts of things that people in my community and I'm sure Kevin as well are talking about, are hoping for and are counting on. They're the sorts of things Kevin and I are talking about today and that's the sort of things to talk about for the future.
JOURNALIST
The New South Wales Nationals did bring this out into the harsh light of day, are you concerned that it will cost votes for the State and even in the federal National Party?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, I know that over the next 18 months, two years, people are going to be hearing a lot from the National Party about how we're going to get Australia working again, how the regions are important, and that's what we're focused on. That's what Kevin Hogan and I are focused on. That's what our federal Nationals team focused on delivering, making sure that there are jobs, making sure that there are hours of work for casuals, making sure that there's a vaccine available, making sure that there's the right health and education services, making sure that we get Australians across the border, as they should be able to now. They're the sorts of things we're focused on.
I'm sure the New South Wales Nationals and New South Wales Liberals are also focused on the future because absolutely, what we're going to need is the huge debt that obviously has been incurred through COVID is getting paid off and will be paid off. There's only one team can do that and that's a Coalition team at State and federal level and that's what we'll be concentrating on.
JOURNALIST
You said you're going to bat on behalf of the Nationals for drought. Do you think koala habitat legislation was the wrong issue for the Nationals to take such a strong stand on?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, I know John Barilaro has taken a strong stand on many issues and New South Wales Nationals, and federal Nationals always do. We always stick up for the regions, that's our job. That's why we get sent to either Macquarie Street or Canberra. We get sent there to do a job for and on behalf of the regions.
The regions are not voiceless. They've got a strong powerful advocate for them, for their jobs, for their prospects, for their futures in National Party people and whether it's Chris Gulaptis or Kevin Hogan, whatever the case might be, they're in there. They're working hard every minute of every waking day for and on behalf of their constituents and that's happening here.
JOURNALIST
But this stand didn't even last 24 hours.
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, that's a matter that I'm sure will be resolved amicably and in the future I'm sure that they'll be able to bring about the right resolution to this issue.
JOURNALIST
So you don't think the Coalition is more fragile after this very public stoush?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, you know, that's a matter for the media. I suppose that's a matter for the commentators. Again, I say I'm not getting too dragged into this sort of issue. I'm concentrating on the things that are important at a federal level, talking about jobs, talking about the future, talking about vaccines. That's what I think Australians want to hear and that's what we're concentrating on.
JOURNALIST
[Inaudible]
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Well, we've got 149.6 billion reasons why we need to keep our trade open with China. It's our largest trading nation. It has provided hope and jobs and opportunities for Australians that would otherwise not be there.
That said, I know that David Littleproud, the Agriculture Minister and the Trade Minister, Simon Birmingham are working hard at making sure that we open up other prospects and other markets. We do that all the time. Dare I say, I know we've now got Tony Abbott in there working for us and working for Britain on making sure that we potentially have more trade with the UK after Brexit. These are difficult times, yes.
China is always going to need our protein. The best protein for China or anywhere else comes from Australian beef, Wagyu beef, dare I argue Richmond Valley Wagyu beef and don't tell Michelle Landry I said that. You know and I know as in my own electorate, I've got an abattoir that kills 1400 stock per day, 1400 head of cattle per day. You know, we've got the best beef in Australia. We need to export it to the world. We can't just eat it all ourselves and it is, whatever the case might be as far as food and fibre, it is the best in the world. It's the cleanest, the greenest, the freshest and we want to export it to the world.
Australia is a trading nation. We will continue to be just that. There is already brand Australia. Simon mentioned earlier the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Now, when America pulled out of that, you could have argued that the TPP was all over. No. Australia went in and we made sure that we backed ourselves. That's a $14.5 trillion opportunity for Australian farmers for areas such as this and we will continue to open up trading prospects with the entire world. Whether it's to South America, whether it's Africa, whether it's Europe, Asia, whatever the case might be, because there are great opportunities there and every time we forge another trading link it helps another farmer. It helps another small business, whether it's Casino or Lismore or wherever the case might be.
JOURNALIST
Just on China, do you believe Australia was meddling in China’s internal affairs by getting two Australian journalists under protection and getting out of the country as seen by the Chinese Government overnight?
MICHAEL McCORMACK
No.
JOURNALIST
Kevin's says that the health of this meatworks is vital to the health of the community. I run the local newspaper and I think newspapers [inaudible].
MICHAEL McCORMACK
No argument from a former newspaper editor. You're not going to get any argument from me there.
JOURNALIST
So we all work hard to bring that news and I basically want to know how the Federal Government has justified giving millions to NewsCorp before and after they had started [inaudible] and the latest media help is that the businesses, such as myself which has just started, you have to bring businesses in. So the rural bailout for media –
MICHAEL McCORMACK
Look, I appreciate that. And look, congratulations for taking that plunge and starting up a new organisation. But you appreciate that the assistance that was made available [inaudible] and through other assistance measures that we provided was for established organisations.
Look, we may well look at those sorts of things in the future for businesses that started up. We can't just go though and fund every start‑up organisation in the middle of a pandemic. We had to look after those organisations which, you know, had deep roots in the community, which had people who were otherwise going to be thrown onto unemployment queues and that's what we did.
I worked very hard with Paul Fletcher, the Communications Minister and I know Kevin did as well, wore out the carpet to Minister Fletcher's room to make sure that we stood up for local journalists because, you know, we see here a number of cameras, a number of newspaper journalists, you know. And being a former newspaper editor myself, I know what an important part you people play in bringing the sorts of events and the sorts of things that are happening in the community to the forefront.
Without you, we would be very much a diminished community. So thank you for doing what each and every one of you do for and on behalf of the community, bringing out the positivity, bringing out the heartache and tragedy at times. I mean, these local news services play an integral role. We want that to continue. We can't all just have people on social media thinking that's the start and stop of news.
We need the ABC. We need Prime, whatever the case might be, local news organisations such as yourself, whether they've been going 100 years or whether they've just started up. So we will continue to look at those sorts of things. We will continue to back our local journalists because regional journalists are the focus of regional communities. Thank you very much.