Australia’s powerhouse beef industry was celebrated at the Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC) Annual Awards Gala Dinner in Darwin.
Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources David Littleproud addressed the event, attended by station managers and industry representatives, acknowledging the contribution of Australian beef as our single largest agricultural industry.
“Australia’s beef cattle farmers are behind nearly a quarter of Australia’s farm production worth over $13 billion to the nation’s economy,” Mr Littleproud said.
“This is an industry that represents everything we are expecting to achieve in rural and regional Australia as farmers, as communities and as a nation.
“The Coalition Government is committed to ‘beefing up’ our export markets for Australian produce.
“Just this week we secured another historic free trade agreement with one of the fastest growing economies in the world, Peru, delivering for our exporters.
“Aussie beef producers will benefit from the elimination of all tariffs within five years, giving producers the opportunity to finally compete in that market on a level playing field.
“Exporters will be happy to hear Peruvian supermarkets are already asking about getting our beef on their shelves.
“This builds on the work the Coalition has already done on securing access through free trade agreements to the Korean, Japanese and Chinese markets for our premium produce.
“Further gains are expected through the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
“This government also continues to stand behind our $1.4 billion live export industry, with new or improved market access for 13 livestock export markets.
“We also re-established markets following the reckless knee-jerk decision by the Labor Government to ban live exports to Indonesia in 2011.
“I’m focused on continuing to establish the best possible environment across the supply chain for our beef industry to thrive, including through the $4 billion Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper.”