AUGUST 2025
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Q Was the recent government decision to allow more US beef imports the right one? A Context is obviously important. Australia is one of the largest exporters of beef in the world. We are an advocate in the international community for rules-based trading underpinned by scientific decision-making. And no matter what happens, whether it’s someone wanting to come here or us wanting to enter their market, we want to see equity in the way the rules are applied. And we want science to underpin the decision. It’s very difficult as the CEO of a peak industry council for the cattle industry to say, “I welcome the Americans to access our market”. But the reality is, I don’t want any competitors in our market. That being said, we are an advocate for gaining as much market access around the world as we can because we are such a big exporter of beef and the trade with the US is a $4 billion export market. Obviously, this is a circumstance in which being a proponent of free trade has allowed a competitor into our market, but again, I think at this stage of the economic cycle and where the US is up to, the impact on us is relatively low and the rewards of this trade for us are very high. Q In what areas is the Australian cattle industry leading the world? A I think Australian cattle producers should be incredibly proud of themselves. I’ve travelled around much of the world and seen the practices of the production sectors in some other countries. And to be really blunt, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a production sector anywhere in the world that even comes close to our standard. And, for me, I’m sure there are producers overseas who operate to our standards or to a very high standard, but I think as a whole, it’s just undeniable that we are a global leader. We produce beef on one of the driest continents on earth, year in, year out, to an incredibly high standard, export it to more than 100 countries around the world, and we do all of it with very little or no assistance from our government at all. I
A We’re facing sort of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at the moment around the European Union free-trade agreement. The EU is a notoriously difficult economic bloc to negotiate with and to reach a positive outcome. They’re very protective of their agricultural sectors for obvious reasons. They see us as a threat and I think it’s because we are so good at what we do. The outcome of the EU FTA is really important because the likelihood that we’re going to be able to renegotiate or change it in the future is quite low. So we need to put a lot of effort into making sure the settings and the quotas that are established are something that we can harness and make the most out of. The EU is kind of the last of the big FTAs (to finalise). There’s always trade agreements that we need to do more work on, but we have very strong trade agreements with a lot of countries around the world. The EU is the last one that we get ticked off. Q Do you think international markets will be affected by net zero ambition or lack of it? A Climate aspirations are important these days. There’s no denying that. We’re facing pressures throughout our supply chain to see action outside of the expectations of our government, and that includes our trading partners. Regardless of what your views are around these sorts of targets for Australia domestically, we are going to have to contend with them internationally. The key part of this conversation is we need to be focusing on productivity, because productivity and profitability of businesses is the No.1 driving factor behind being capable and being able to adapt to change, of being able to meet regulatory expectations. It’s the most important thing. If we want to see continued high prices and see the beef industry maintain its status as a $75 billion turnover business that underpins all of regional Australia, then the reality is we need to make sure that any sort of climate aspirations are met with a lens of productivity and profitability.
think people need to realise how rare that is on the world stage and how significant that is for us in terms of being able to advocate for our industry globally. We have the best standards and practices anywhere, and the reality for us today is we can really honestly say that. No matter where we are, no matter what stage we’re standing on – anywhere in the world. Q In what areas do you think we can improve? A One of the great things about the Australian industry is that we’re always looking for things to improve on. What I’ve seen in some other countries is they can tolerate or live with practices that they know that could be improved, because there really just isn’t any particular desire to do much about them. Whereas one of great things about the Australian beef industry is that we are always looking for: ‘What is the next thing that we can change?’ or ‘What’s the next thing that we can learn or grow?’ And I think that’s a characteristic of the industry. If I had to pick one thing I could change, regional infrastructure is an appalling state. It’s a bit outside the beef industry, but it’s one of the biggest productivity barriers for us. One of the biggest changes that could happen for our industry is if we had governments nationally take regional infrastructure really seriously for an extended period and really look to develop roads outside of major urban centres. That would return a massive amount of investment for the government and would make a lot of sense for the economy. But the difficulty we have is that infrastructure building in Australia can often be a very political process and the reality unfortunately is that the majority of people live in urban areas. So we have to find a way to cut through it with our messaging. Q Is there anything you’re keeping an eye on internationally that has the potential to impact the Australian industry?
Conor Fowler is a reporter for The Weekly Times
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