Trade Minister Don Farrell has pushed back against farmers furious with beef quotas in the freshly agreed free-trade deal with the EU, insisting it is “a good deal for Australia” and “a good deal for Australian farmers”.
The agreement, which needs parliamentary approval in both Australia and the EU, lets Australian producers ship 35,000 tonnes of beef to Europe per year, marking a 700 per cent boost in market access for farmers.
Similarly, sheep meat producers will be able to ship almost 31,000 tonnes per year to Europe, representing a five-fold increase on current figures.
But the National Farmers Federation has said the quotas would not give producers any meaningful access to the EU.
“You will remember this is a long-term generational agreement,” NFF managing director Hamish McIntyre told ABC’s Radio National on Wednesday.
“It’s not just for the next couple of years. It’s for 10, 20, 30, 40 years for our children and grandchildren.
“So, we have locked ourselves into very low volumes for a long period of time. That’s where the great frustration’s coming from in our red meat industry, particularly.”
Appearing on the same program later, Senator Farrell said it was an unfair criticism and that he had met every demand the cattle industry made.
“The cattle industry wanted three things out of this agreement,” he said.
“One was an increased offer from the previous negotiations. We got that.
“Secondly, they wanted the removal of the sort of conditions that have resulted in Canada, despite having a 50,000 tonne access to the European market, has had no beef go into the European Union in 10 years. So, they wanted the conditions removed, and we did that.
“And finally, they wanted an opportunity to go back at a certain time to see if we can increase the volume. And I got that. So, everything that cattle wanted, we’ve got.”
He went on to say that “95 per cent of Australian industry supports this agreement” and asked “the cattle industry to come on board”.
“This is a vital moment for them. If we can’t demonstrate to the rest of the world that Australia is capable of negotiating free and fair trade agreements, then we’ve got a big problem in this country.”
The terms finalised by Anthony Albanese and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen strip tariffs from 97.8 per cent of Australian goods bound for Europe, from produce and dairy to machinery and textiles.
The outcome came after eight years of negotiations, and NewsWire understands the Europeans were not looking to restart talks if the latest round failed.
While most exporters have welcomed the breakthrough, the Coalition has not been convinced.
“We love Europe and we love free trade,” opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien told Sky News.
“The question is, especially for our farmers, if it’s fair. And if trade is not fair, it is not free.
“And if you look at some of the words you hear reported this morning from our farmers, they are using words of it being ‘horrendous’, ‘outrageous’, ‘a terrible deal’.
“Therein lies the problem.”
He added that the Coalition would “scrutinise the detail of the draft when it’s released, but we do fear … that the government has not delivered the deal that they deserve”.
