Northern Australia

It is great to see comments and policy announcements from the coalition about developing the north.  The policy announcements recognise the enormous potential in northern Australia in a range of industries.  

There are numerous industries that could prosper in the north - agricultural pursuits, mining, tourism, medical services to high end consumers in Asia and no doubt other industries that we have not thought of yet.  This will create benefits to the entire nation in addition to the people who live there.  This will create benefits to the entire nation, in addition to the people who live there. 

It is a choice whether Australia captures the opportunities available for northern Australia.  The opportunities will not materialise for the nation, rather it will take effort to capture them. 

 In the past Government policies and actions about northern Australia have never matched the rhetoric.   It has been all too easy to talk about the opportunities and not take the hard decisions necessary to capture the opportunities.  Indeed many Government policies in the past have negative consequences for industry development in the north – the suspension of the live cattle trade to Indonesia being a prime example. 

The decisions required of Government will be difficult especially given the state of Federal Government finances currently.  The investment required to capture the opportunities available to northern Australia will be substantial due to the large geographical area involved.  A major requirement of Governments will be investment in infrastructure which is likely to be extremely costly. 

Despite that there is some low hanging fruit that an incoming Government could pick.  Reinvigorating existing industries will obviously require less initial investment and give an almost immediate return.  My own industry, the northern cattle industry could be reenergised by improving trade relations with Indonesia. 

I hope that the latest round of political rhetoric translates into action on the ground as soon as possible.  

Darkest Hour

The darkest hour is the hour before dawn.

I have always liked that saying for the hope that it brings.   I don't think that it is actually true and that the darkest hour is generally sometime in the middle of the night.   Never mind, I like the saying and I will stick to it.  

I interpret the saying to mean that when everything is at its bleakest, better times are just around the corner.  It certainly feels that things are at their bleakest at the moment and hope there are improved times ahead. 

The parlous state of the beef industry in Queensland has garnered media attention recently with cattle selling for as little as twenty dollars recently.  In a similar situation but for different reasons are fruit growers in Victoria who have had their contracts cancelled by SPC and are faced with the agonising decision of whether to pull out their trees.  

In my industry, the northern cattle industry, we currently have no markets for our cattle.  At a time of the year when we should be at our busiest, it is a waiting game to see whether cattle markets can be re-established.  The most frustrating thing is knowing that the people on the ground want and need what we produce but politicians get in the way to stop trade happening. 

There is plenty to be positive about when it comes to Australian agriculture such as increased demand from key markets in Asia and rising demand from agricultural products generally.  There have been some positive signs for other farming groups.  Dairy farmers have recently been the recipient of price increases for the coming season.  Good opening rains have been received in much of the winter cropping areas around Australia. 

I am just hoping for some positive news here to get the northern beef industry back on track.