So sitting around the table at the recent International Beef Alliance conference in Canada, with producer representatives from other major beef exporter nations, provided some timely insight into the shared objectives and common challenges of beef cattle producers from around the globe.

Members of the IBA comprise cattle producer organisations from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay and the United States, representing over 60 per cent of the world’s traded beef.

We’re united in recognising that ongoing trade reform and liberalisation is vital to the prosperity of the global beef value chain.

This is squarely in line with Cattle Council’s view that if we back the quality and integrity of our own Australian beef, it makes sense to give consumers around the world the freedom to choose from a range of products from different countries.

Of course, Australian beef isn’t just competing with beef from other countries. We’re facing significant challenges from cheaper meat options and, increasingly, from imitation meat products.

The IBA conference was an important forum for discussing how we ensure beef continues to be a preferred source of protein in global markets. Key conclusions were that alternative proteins need to be regulated and labelled in a truthful manner.

Senator Bridget McKenzie, in her capacity as chair of the Australia New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation, has driven the push for Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to review the terminology used to describe and market foods to consumers.

Cattle producers should welcome this review so that, with the entry of a number of imitation foods into the marketplace, consumers are able to make informed choices when shopping.

Senator McKenzie has said products labelled “meat” and “milk” should only come from animals. It is hard to argue with that logic.

In any retail setting, a transparent, level playing field is all we can ask for. People are free to eat whatever they choose, and we don’t want that freedom compromised because we know Australian beef has such a compelling story to tell. 

That’s why Cattle Council will keep working to ensure that when consumers seek out a healthy, environmentally and ethically sustainable source of protein which supports our farmers, they know that nothing beats Australian beef.

- Cattle Council of Australia CEO, Margo Andrae

I believe the government is letting us down on numerous issues, from abortion to immigration legislation.

Another problem in Queensland is that we have very few factories left because of striking unions to feed the union bosses. I worked at Greenvale in 1974. Most weeks there was a strike over nothing. The blokes who caused it would go to Ingham fishing, while the honest workers had to wait until it was over. Kidston Gold Mine did not have a strike in 20 years of operation because they chose men not in a union. I was on the road with drovers twice in my life years ago and the railway would go on strike a week before we were going to truck these cattle. We would lose a week there tailing them on grass. 

When Jo Bjelke-Petersen was running this state, everyone had jobs and railways were all running one hundred per cent. There are no laws today. The police do a good job but are let down by the courts not doing the right thing. The sooner we get a northern state the better. We are being ripped off by our Brisbane politicians. 

- Edward Hoolihan, Ortona Station, via Einasleigh