The Albanese Government has failed to secure a fair deal for Australian farms in an Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement that has been slammed by major agricultural organisations.
Shadow Minister for Agriculture Darren Chester has challenged the Agriculture Minister in Federal Parliament to endorse the agreement but she failed to say it was a ‘good deal’ for Australian farmers.
“Minister Julie Collins was given the chance to say whether it was a ‘good deal’ for Australian farmers and all we heard was waffle, spin and Labor Party talking points,” Mr Chester said.
“I’m not surprised because a long line of industry peak bodies have criticised the deal
as ‘subpar’, ‘disingenuous’, ‘genuinely bewildering’, ‘unfair’ and a ‘one-way deal’ which has sold out farmers.
“It’s an extremely poor outcome for the overwhelming majority of Australian producers and the Labor Government should’ve walked away from a bad deal.
“Free trade agreement only work when they are genuinely trade-enhancing and deliver commercially meaningful market access for Australian producers who operate without the benefit of heavy subsidies.”
Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture Sam Birrell, said the deal locks in weak outcomes for key farming sectors and makes excessive concessions on geographic indications (GIs), undermining Australian producers.
“Australia is a trading nation, and our agricultural sector is highly export-exposed,” Mr Birrell said.
“We support an ambitious agreement with the European Union because regional jobs and farmgate returns depend on strong access to international markets.
“Australian dairy producers were among those particularly hard hit and this is a raw deal for dairy farmers when they are already facing other pressures.
“Producers will face restrictions on the use of widely recognised product names such as feta, gruyere and romano, while at the same time Australia is removing tariffs on imported and subsidised European cheese.”
Mr Birrell said any tariff benefits should not come at the cost of Australian producers losing naming rights for the wine sector.
“We fought to keep the term ‘Prosecco’ at home and abroad but over 10 years it will be phased out for exports imposing significant transition costs on local producers,” he said.
Mr Chester said the Coalition’s record demonstrated its ability to negotiate strong trade outcomes, noting that 13 of Australia’s 16 free trade agreements were delivered under
Coalition governments and the UK trade deal set a benchmark which Labor had failed to match.
“We support trade that opens markets, reduces tariffs and creates jobs,” he said.
“But we will not support a deal that trades away the interests of Australian producers, particularly on red meat access and geographic indications, just so Labor can claim a headline.”
Reactions from agriculture industry leaders:
VFF President Brett Hosking
“It’s pretty embarrassing. For farmers, no deal would have been better than what we’ve been dealt.
“At a time when farmers are getting smashed by devastating water buybacks and skyrocketing fuel and fertiliser costs, we’ve been hung out to dry for the sake of getting the deal done.”
NFF President Hamish McIntyre:
“Australian farmers are extremely disappointed that negotiations for a free trade deal with the European Union (EU) have concluded without commercially meaningful agricultural market access gains since Australia last walked away from negotiations.
“They will now pay the price for this subpar EU deal for decades to come.”
Cattle Australia Chair, Garry Edwards:
“This morning’s announcement on trading terms with the European Union (EU) shows that we have been misled by an apparently disingenuous trade negotiation, with amateurs playing a game against professionals.”
“The deal that has been struck is simply appalling for agriculture and regional Australia and delivers nothing to address the trade imbalance to the EU.”
Chair of the Australia–EU Red Meat Market Access Taskforce, Andrew McDonald:
“Australia’s red meat sector has been profoundly let down by this outcome.
“To land a deal so far below what other suppliers have secured is genuinely bewildering.
“The agreement is a long way from anything resembling ‘free and fair trade’, particularly given Australia already provides the EU with quota-and tariff-free access for meat products like pork, while the A-EU FTA locks in perpetual volume constraints on Australian red meat entering the EU.”
Australian Dairy Industry Council Chair Ben Bennett:
“It is unfair on many fronts – most notably it expands access to heavily subsidised European dairy imports, while failing to secure reciprocal access for Australia’s exports to the EU.
“The numbers speak for themselves – there’s nearly a billion dollars of subsidised EU imports compared to a limited $29 million of unsubsidised Australian exports.”
“The agreement imposes the EU’s geographical indication naming regime on Australia, restricting the future use of widely recognised product names such as feta, gruyere and romano, while also removing one of Australia’s most significant dairy import tariffs on cheese.
“We are being asked to give up established commercial freedoms without securing meaningful market access.”