TRANSCRIPT SOUTHERN NSW INNOVATION HUB ANNOUNCEMENTS

E&OE

Subjects: Southern NSW Innovation Hub funding announcements, preparing for drought, supply chains, Ian Macfarlane, polling, COVID-19 vaccination, marginal seats, trade with Indonesia, Ag visa.

CINDY CASSIDY

Thank you for joining us at Charles Sturt University, home of the Southern New South Wales Drought Innovation and Resilience Hub. I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, the Wiradjuri people and pay respect to their elders past and present and emerging. And I would like to welcome our special guests, Mr McCormack, our local member, and Minister Littleproud, the Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia. We are very pleased to host you at the Southern New South Wales Innovation Hub. Creation of the hub actually represents a step change in the way that we approach agricultural innovation and the way that we go about delivering and undertaking those activities to support our farmers and our regional communities. Our hub is about connecting the people and places of southern New South Wales, from Bega to Broken Hill, from Cobar to Cohuna. We see our partnership, which is a partnership of four regional universities, state government organisations, and local farming organisations as critical to bringing science to the people and places that can most benefit from and use those tools and insights. So we're very excited to have the Minister here today, who is the architect of this hub network across the country and also the agricultural innovation policy framework that is going to change the shape and nature of agriculture in this country. So thank you very much.

I'll throw to Minister McCormack- Mr McCormack to talk to us and introduce the Minister.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Well, thank you, Cindy Cassidy. And it's great to be here with you. It's great to welcome David Littleproud. He's the Minister for Agriculture. That is all of Australia. He is the Minister for Northern Australia, and we are in southern Australia. But when you are the Minister for Agriculture, indeed, that is one of the most important portfolios, not just for regional Australia, but for our nation. It's great here to have Michael Friend, Professor Michael Friend as well, who plays such an important part out here at Charles Sturt University, as well as the Mayor, Dallas Tout. Now, my good friend Cindy Cassidy is from Ariah Park. That is the home of bulk grain. Dallas Tout, he's from- originally from Gundagai, which had a cow which produced a record amount of milk for an individual cow. Every town around this great production area has its own story about how it feeds into the supply chain for agriculture in Australia. And when David Littleproud established the Drought Resilience Innovation Drought hubs, what he did, he set in train a line of funding, a line of innovation, a line of resilience, and a line of preparedness for the next drought. He did it in a time when we aren't in drought, but it is going to not be that far away, and we've had a great season. Thank you very much. But it's not that far away that we'll have another drought, and then we'll have more good times, and then we'll have another drought. My father, the late Lance McCormack, a great farmer between Wagga and Junee, he always used to say that in any given 10-year period, you'd have three spectacular years, three average years, and three pretty ordinary years. And that's farming. That's farming in Australia. And so the commitment that we are making today for soils, for a regional soils coordinator, is important. The expenditure that we are investing today to turn this from just a drought hub to an innovation hub for all of agriculture is an important one because what it is going to do, it's going to put Charles Sturt University, AgriFutures, Riverina Agriculture, and of course, the drought hub at the forefront of preparedness for the next drought, at the forefront of innovation for agriculture, so that we can grow production, so that we can use every drop of water wisely. And Michael Friend will tell you that the people here are the best not just in Australia, but in the world, as far as making sure that we've got the expert field research being done, the expert innovation, and the expert preparedness for that next drought.

And so I welcome David here today. I'll get him to make the announcement that he's going to make, a spectacularly important one, not just for the Riverina, one of the best food bowls in all of Australia, but indeed for our nation. Because when agriculture is strong, so too is Australia. David.

 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Well, thanks, mate. It's good to be here in the Riverina, and can I thank Cindy for having us here at one of our drought innovation hubs. But today it is the evolution of Australian agricultural innovation. We're not just looking at droughts; we're trying to expand this with a $20 million investment in the eight innovation hubs across the country in getting them not just to do the innovation, the science, and research into drought and preparedness, but actually our full agricultural production systems to get a better return for the Australian taxpayer. We've put $8 million originally into each one of these innovation hubs, through our innovation hubs. Now we want them to evolve into not just doing drought research, but actually agricultural research, giving them the capacity, building the scale here in regional and rural Australia, whether it be Wagga Wagga or Toowoomba, right up into James Cook University, across into Darwin, down into South Australia, those eight innovation hubs, in bringing the capacity and scale into them. There's $1.1 billion worth of research dollars every year that goes into agricultural research from our 15 commodity groups. And what I've said to each one of those is that I expect that when they procure that research, that they look to these innovation hubs as our physical platforms so the world can see and come and feel and touch what we are doing in agricultural innovation, in research, technology so that we can create another pillar of Australian agriculture.

And what we're also doing is saying to young people right across Australia that you can stay in regional Australia, you can go to a regional university, you can have a career pathway in agriculture. We are bringing our young people home. We are bringing them home into regional Australia, into regional universities, building the scale, building that capacity of knowledge right here and so it's closer to where our farmers are. So this investment is about making sure that each one of our eight innovation hubs can build from not just being drought innovation hubs, but to being agricultural innovation hubs. Now we're funding these hubs originally through the Drought Future Fund, but I made it clear to each one of those hubs, you have four years to get yourself up and going, to build that scale and capacity, to get your share of that $1.1 billion, to make sure that you're able to fund it commercially from the work that you are doing out here. And this is about making sure we're giving them a leg up to be able to do that. Each one of these innovation hubs now will have the capacity to build that scale. And so this is an investment in the future, and what we'd like to see then is the Future Fund actually shift their money away from just keeping the doors open, to actually putting it into the commercialisation of the research that's happening here.

So that's the transition in terms of how we're modernising our innovation systems. And so we have a digital platform that was launched right here, and I've got to acknowledge AgriFutures. This is a digital platform that no one else in the world had created. And in fact, we have had significant interest in that. Over 135 countries have accessed this growAG platform that was created and done right here in Wagga Wagga, and we've already seen 40 commercial inquiries across those 15 RD seats where there is money coming into, flowing into Australia to partner with our universities, and we want to create that ecosystem that brings and attracts that dollar into the best and brightest minds in the world that we want to be in regional Australia and particularly in regional universities. I have nothing against sandstone universities apart from the fact they're not here, and I want to back regional universities to send strong messages to our young people. They can stay, get educated in regional Australia, and then be part of agriculture and this new pillar of agriculture in research and development.

We're also announcing today an extra $3 million for the eight hubs so that they can put out their extension offices in soil sites. We want to be able to extend the science that's created here, the very best, and be able for farmers to adopt it because if they adopt it, they become more resilient, more profitable. And so the best way to do that is to put people in the ground that consider kitchen tables and explain the science and the practices that will be the drivers that'll drive the soil that invariably produces more for them. So this is about making sure that while we have a connection between our universities and our farmers, so the adoption is taken up, our farmers are more profitable. This is a practical step in making sure we're better prepared for the next drought. So, can I say to the CSU and to all those universities across the country that we've made a significant investment in and around drought. This is the next step, and I've made it clear the RDCs, they are to partner with you. That we now have a digital platform through GrowAG and now these physical platforms are imperative because we want to see international visitors, corporates, other foreign states come to universities like this and see and feel and touch exactly the research that we are doing right here, and that's how you get that investment. So this finalises the whole reform that we put in place around our research development corporations, getting back to those principles of value to the levy payer, value to the taxpayer, removing duplication of research amongst our RDCs, and above all commercialisation. And so the Federal Government has now created that ecosystem and we're saying we're backing that with cash, but now we expect results.

Any questions?

 

JOURNALIST

So what sort of results are you expecting to come out of this funding boost? 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

So this is where we want to make sure that we're building that scale and capacity of the knowledge and the skills that are bought to universities' regional hubs to be- for that research to be done here, rather than in sandstone universities in capital cities. And so the 15 commodity RDCs - research development corporations - we're saying to them: here is the platform, the physical platform, that you can invest your research dollar in. So the best and brightest minds are here and are actually complimenting the work that the unis are doing in educating them, so the next generation of researchers actually will be here and can stay here, and have a pathway- a career pathway in research and development. And that's the exciting thing is, we're going to put that out closest to where it's needed, which is a farmer. Funny that a government would actually say, let's bring it out to serve the people, closer- to serve the people that it's there designed to help. And so that's why I'm passionate about these regional innovation hubs, making sure it's closer to farmers. And the farmers will play a very pivotal role in giving feedback through these regional universities to us, and the RDCs, about what's the research they want, the value to the levy payer and to the taxpayer. It's an insurance policy for our taxpayer and for the levy payer, the $1.1 billion, that we're getting value for money and we're getting research that'll make a difference on the ground.

 

JOURNALIST

Can you tell us how that will actually help our local farmers, I guess when it comes to them becoming more innovative as well?

 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Yeah, look, as an old bank manager that used to sit around the kitchen table of farmers and doing cash flows every day with them, they're not really ready to adopt until they can see and feel and touch it, and they know that they're going to make a quid out of it. And so if you're too far away and they can't see it, they can't feel and touch it, then they variably won't adopt it. So having this closer to where our farming production systems are mean that our farmers will be able to feel and touch and see it, and adopt it. And when you get that uptake, and you get the best minds in the world being able to come together and create some of these solutions, giving them the tools to be more resilient - but more profitable. I mean, resilient's a great word, but ultimately it comes down to them being more profitable, and what these great people in these great universities would be able to do is give them the tools. And so being closer means that they'll be able to adopt that, because when they feel and see and touch it they'll spend a quid to adopt it and use it, and invariably that's how you get the adoption.

 

JOURNALIST

And as you said, the next drought is inevitable. It's been a pretty wet season at the moment. But how can farmers best prepare for that next situation?

 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Well, your very next drought starts the very first day after it stops raining, and I think we've come a long way. And I think Australian agriculture has become more self-sufficient over the years. I remember the days open up cheques of $250,000 for interest rate subsidies. Well, they've gone, and they've got to go. The Australian taxpayer can't do that. But what our job is, is to put the environment and infrastructure around them. And so what we're trying to say is if we give you the tools, the science and technology to be able to adopt in the good times and be able to use those right the way through from the day after it stops raining, and make- being able to make better decisions because you're getting timely advice, you're getting timely data that helps you make better decisions. In drought, it's very difficult to make the right decision, because no drought is the same. So this is about making sure that they can make real-time decisions with real data from real people on the ground that they can feel and see and touch and talk to. And invariably, what that'll mean is that farmers will become more profitable, and when we hit those tougher times, they'll be able to look after themselves rather than the Australian taxpayer having to kick the tin.

 

JOURNALIST

We can expect the impacts of climate change to exacerbate those impacts of drought. How will these innovation hubs focus on that issue?

 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Well, that is one of the areas that we're saying to these innovation hubs, that they need to look at climate change, they need to look at biosecurity and they need to look at trade markets and the R&D itself. So we've been very prescriptive about where they should be aiming this $2.5 million that each one of them will get. It's making sure that they've got that target, and that feeds in with where our research development corporation dollars are going as well. So we've got a coordinated approach, whether it's been from the RDCs right through to our regional universities, that we are going back to those first principles of value to the levy payer, value to the taxpayer, stopping the duplication. We have had a number of research development corporations do research on climate change. Well, that's duplication. And if we can pick one of these hubs to do that and do it for the whole production systems of agriculture right across those industries, then we get better value for money. Those research dollars go further. That means more jobs are being funnelled back into these regional unis because that money's going to go into other research. So this is about building scale and capacity in our regional unis, and I don't apologise for that. I'm sorry to those sandstone unis, but they've had a fair lick at this, and it's time for this to be decentralised out into these regional unis, to get our regional unis built up with the scale and capacity and the best minds in the world, out of the cities out here. And this gives us the capacity to go forward and address a changing climate, make sure that we do have those tools in the farmer's locker to be able to address it by making real-time decisions, because they've got the science in front of them about what are the drivers of their business, of their environment, of their landscape.

 

JOURNALIST

Are you satisfied that supply chains in Australia are adequate at the moment and that food is getting processed and delivered where it needs to, given COVID implications first of all, and flood secondly?

 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Yeah, look, there are challenges. You can't have your head in the sand in this, and it's come particularly from COVID and the challenges we've faced with COVID, and also from some of the natural disasters that we've faced over the last week or so. But one of the other aspects that have exacerbated this is panic-buying. And so we all have a responsibility in this, and the first thing people should do is not go in and panic buy, to just buy what they normally do because there is enough food and fibre to go around. We produce more than enough for 26 million people. But people have got to understand they've got a role to play in making sure they just go in and get what they need between one shop to the next, not to hoard, but to make sure that they do that responsibly. We're working through, in terms of the COVID response and working with states and trying to get some consistency with the states, around close contact rules to ensure that we can keep a lot of these supply chains going and keep truckies moving. And so that's important. That's a very important aspect that the states will play. And then we're working, obviously through the emergency management arrangements and the National Coordination Mechanism to re-divert, particularly where we've got challenges in the Northern Territory and South Australia at the moment, where we're re-diverting trucks the long way round. People are just going to have to persevere with us. It's a big country, and to get these supply chains going with COVID and natural disasters just takes time. But we've all got a role to play in it.

 

JOURNALIST

And can we just get your thoughts on Ian Macfarlane from the Minerals Council being appointed board of CSIRO?

 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Well, obviously minerals play a very important part of our nation's economy, and making sure that we have the science to do that in a sustainable way is imperative. So I think having someone on the CSIRO board, that brings that lens of industry to that to make sure that we have the very best science to understand our global responsibility under emissions, and making sure that that science is- stands up and that we're actually developing these resources in a sustainable way is smart. I don't think you should think anything other than it's a measure to make sure that we're living up to our international commitments. We're making sure that our minerals industries is extracted in a sustainable way. I think that's a good thing for Australia to be able to report, and to make sure that we've got the very best science getting the very best outcomes on the ground.

 

JOURNALIST

Anthony Albanese is leading the polls as the preferred prime minister at the moment. What does that kind of tell you about the upcoming election?

 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Well, it's going to be tough. Every election's tough. I mean, polls will come and go, and the only poll that really counts is the one on election day. Now, the Australian people are giving us a kick up the rear end at the moment. And, you know, we haven't got everything right. We acknowledge that. There's no playbook for COVID. And what we've done is try to play the cards that have been dealt to us. But on a macro level, we've got this country in a better position than most other countries around the world. We're one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. Our economy is leading the world in terms of the number of people backing employment, that our economies continues to grow. Our inflation is still very much under control in comparison to the United States and the UK. And many of the pressures on our inflation have come from circumstances outside our control. International petroleum prices. But if you look at what we've been able to do, we've been able to maintain interest rates at a level. We've put pressure on- electricity prices down, childcare down. And so the levers, we have been able to pull. We've been able to do it by good management. And so while Anthony Albanese might run around and say he can do better, I think he's selling the Australian people a pup. This guy hasn't got the ticker to manage our economy, particularly out of this, and be able to spend your money wisely. He's saying he's going to increase spending, but he's going to be prudent on the other side. I mean, it just doesn't stack up. I mean, you don't have to be an economist to work out that he's full of it. And what the Australian people want is honesty. And what we're going to be honest and say is: yep, we haven't got everything right. But on a macro level, we're a lot better off than most countries around the world. I'd rather be here than anywhere else in the world. We've got more work to do, and we're going to be honest with you. We're going to look you square in the eyes and your future is going to be better under us than under the other mob.

JOURNALIST

So [audio skip] slow vaccination rollout, the lack of rapid antigen test the Government secured. So do you think that your Government is best positioned for the recovery of COVID? 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Yeah. I mean, let's put this in perspective. On vaccines, can I just say we were a couple of months behind the rest of the world in getting vaccines into people's arm, and there was a reason for that. We had to tell you what we were putting in your arm before we asked you to put your arm out. Other countries accelerated their approval processes, where we didn't. We actually made sure that we could give the Australian public confidence in putting their arm out for a vaccine, and they knew what was being put in it. And if we hadn't done that, then the vaccine rates that we've got at the moment would not be as high. And in fact, we said we'd get to, I think it was 80 per cent by October, and we did that. We did what we said. But we were two months behind, because we had to give the Australian people confidence of what we put in their arm. So yep, we didn't get it right, but we were trying to make sure that we gave the confidence, because the endgame was about making sure that we had the vaccines in people's arms. And we're getting the benefit of that as it is now. With respect to the RATs testing, that could have been done better. Make no mistake, no one is saying we couldn't have. But let me also say this, is that there was a quick pivot, that we were responsible for aged care and we had a supply there. The states moved from PCR to RATs and we get that. National Cabinet got some coordination, which was a good thing. But there was a global shortage of these things to start with, and that meant that that there was always going to be some constraints that start with. The world is facing up to this, and we're trying to work together as quickly as we can. But I get the frustrations on those. But if you look at where this nation sits and where you sit in terms of having an ability to have a job to make a quid at the moment, I would far rather be here in Australia. You are safer and you are better off economically being in Australia than any other country in the world, and I'll stand behind that every day of the week.

JOURNALIST

Last question. Labor's launched a huge blitz in marginal seats. You're in power by a slim majority and have this $16 billion war chest of funding to be announced. How worried are you about the Government's chances at this next election?

 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Look, if I had a lazy 100, I'd put it on us. We were in the same position last time. Look, we're not going to get in the corner and go into the foetal position. We're going to come out swinging. We've got a strong track record. And when Australians reflect about what's happened over the last three years that we've been in government and who's best to take them into the next three years, and what'll be the drivers of that, it'll be whether they've got a quid in their pocket. And our Government has proven before, and again, that we are better to do that than anyone else. We've reduced your tax. We've made sure we've empowered you. And every dollar we have spent of your money, we've made sure there's a return on investment. The last time this mob got in and there was a crisis, they spent it on Pink Batts and school halls, and that didn't create any wealth in this country. Every dollar that we've spent in trying to stimulate it is about creating jobs in building the infrastructure, but also operating it, growing the pie. The Government doesn't pay back debts, the Australian people do. And what we've got to do is give them the environment and infrastructure to do that and then get the hell out of their life and let them get on with the job that they do best, which is produce the best food and fibre in the world, the best product in the world, and have the strongest economy in the world. That's our job, and that's what we'll continue to do.

JOURNALIST

Why have you signed an MOU with Indonesia, given Australia already has a free trade agreement? Does this suggest the trade deal's not working almost two years after coming into force?

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

No. So what you've got to appreciate is a free trade agreement is the broad architecture around how we'll undertake trade with Indonesia around tariffs and some technical barriers. What the MOU does is goes to the very mechanics of that free trade agreement. It goes to making sure that we get rid of those technical barriers. There is a framework in which we work together in a prescribed way to reduce those technical barriers. And at the moment, whether that be on potatoes or carrots, or even permits for our citrus industry, to make sure that there is a set procedure that we both agree to with dedicated timelines, that both sides can address these free trade agreements and go commodity by commodity to make sure that those free trade agreements actually have value. And so this actually goes to the very mechanics of the free trade agreement. The free trade agreement is just the broad architecture. This MOU is pivotal in making sure that we get the actual results of getting Australian commodity into Indonesia as quickly and efficiently as we possibly can; cutting the red tape and making sure that those costs come down to send that product into Indonesia as quickly as we can.

JOURNALIST

And my last one, sorry. What happened when you raised the issues of Australia's new ag visa with the Indonesian Minister last week? And when will Australia's Foreign Minister announce another country wants to participate in the ag visa?

 

DAVID LITTLEPROUD

Well, obviously the Foreign Minister's responsible for this. And to be candid, the only concerns that Indonesia and other countries were in bilaterals with have is around worker exploitation, and that's come from the demonisation of Australian agriculture by the AWU. They have sabotaged this by going and meeting with ambassadors and telling them not to sign up to this, because they will exploit Australian workers. That's the most disgraceful act I've seen of any Australian organisation in my life. They're not just destroying Australian agriculture's international image, they're destroying our own. There is a small cohort that do the wrong thing in agriculture. We will find them and we will weed them out. We're actually increasing penalties and improving the regulatory framework to catch them. But agriculture is not alone on this. There's other industries that AWU are actually also responsible for that they've been very silent on. So we're standing up and saying we're going to fix this problem. But don't go out and demonise Australian agriculture and Australian farmers for a small cohort that do the wrong thing. They have jeopardised this, and they have made it very difficult for Marise Payne to finish those negotiations. And the conversations I had with their labour minister was around the fact that they are hearing a lot of noise from the AWU that Australian farmers are out there, right across the country, exploiting workers. Most disgraceful thing I've ever heard in my life. You know, the AWU needs to put up or shut up, get out of the road, and let us get on with the job, because you won't get your product to your plate unless Australian farmers have the workforce to be able to do it when it's ready. And if that doesn't happen, you're all going to cop it at the checkout. So the AWU needs to get out of the way. Let us put the framework around penalties and the regulatory framework, and start to back Australian farmers rather than demonise them. I think Australian agriculture has gone through enough, and this is just another hurdle that the AWU want to put around Australian farmers - is just disgraceful. And in fact, let me just say this is an opportunity for the ALP. Julie Collins has gone quiet on this. I mean, I don't think anyone even knows who Julie Collins is, but she should be out there telling the AWU, her political master, to go to bed and shut up on this, because otherwise Australian agriculture will be at sixes and sevens on this. So she's got to say whether she and the Labor Party are going to sign up to the ag visa or they sit in quiet and want to just try and slink in to government without telling the Australian people, and particularly Australian farmers, whether they are going to sign up to the agricultural visa. This is an important question for the Labor Party, and Julie Collins is reportedly the Shadow Agriculture Minister. She's been very silent on this. In fact, she's- in fact been complicit with AWU in demonising Australian farmers. So the Labor Party needs to tell us, are they with farmers or are they with the unions? Who's running the show? Who's going to run the show of this country if they get in? That's the risk for us all, because you'll pay at the checkout if we don't get this right.

Thanks, guys.

Ken Grimson