Jeannie Ferris (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This morning I returned from Iraq with the Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaile. We met with senior members of the Iraqi government on behalf of Australian wheat growers. We wanted to assure the administration that our growers are still very keen to supply their important market. The accusations that have been levelled at the Australian government by the opposition today are tragically ill-informed, and the claims that have been made about jeopardising Australia’s wheat exports to Iraq are ill-founded, to say the least, and unhelpful to our prospects of re-establishing this very important market.

The Australian government would never undermine Australian wheat farmers. We will continue to work very closely with the Iraqi government to ensure that our farmers do regain access to this important market and, in fact, to all world markets. Iraq has been a strong trading partner for Australian wheat farmers for 58 years, with exports to the Middle East nation growing to over 14 per cent of total wheat exports in 1989-90. This strong trade has continued over the past 15 years with up to 15.6 per cent of total Australian wheat exports being sent to Iraq each year. In fact, the Australian wheat trade with Iraq has a very proud history, with Iraq qualifying as one of Australia’s top five wheat export markets for the first time in 1970, during which 472,000 tonnes of wheat was exported, which represented about five per cent of total Australian wheat exports for that year.

Our world wheat trade, including to Iraq, is absolutely crucial to Australian farmers and growers, especially those from my home state of South Australia. While South Australia is the third-largest wheat producing state behind Western Australia and New South Wales, it is the second-largest wheat exporter after Western Australia. For the three years to 2004-05, wheat accounted for five per cent of South Australia’s merchandise exports, although this figure was significantly affected by the low level of exports in 2004-05. In both 2003 and 2004, wheat actually represented nine per cent of South Australia’s exports. In 2005, Australia’s wheat exports to Iraq were second only to wheat exports to Indonesia: 8.9 per cent of all Australia’s wheat exports went to Iraq.

It is not just wheat exports that the Australian government will look at for the future when we are talking to senior representatives of this country. For example, Iraq is a country which uses a lot of irrigation from both the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. It was interesting to see that they are having salinity and drainage problems not dissimilar to ours. There will be great opportunities in the future for us to assist that country with agricultural technology. In fact, Deputy Prime Minister Chalabi sought to assure us that, when the time is right and that technology is required, Australia will be among those with a favoured nation status. Australia’s expertise in drainage and irrigation, along with a range of other agricultural technologies, will be very important to this country as it seeks to regain its place in the world as one of the wealthier countries of the Middle East.

As I noted earlier today, both Deputy Prime Minister Chalabi and Trade Minister Mawlud told Mr Vaile and me that it was well understood in Iraq that Australia’s wheat was of a very high quality and was much sought after by the community for their baking purposes. Australian wheat growers should be pleased and reassured that their grain comes with such a high recommendation. Also, Australia’s military and humanitarian assistance provided to the Iraqi people will, Mr Chalabi assured us, be recognised in future trade opportunities and, as I said, in the technology transfers that will become available. In fact, Australian growers can be optimistic that they will be included in future contracts, with Deputy Prime Minister Chalabi saying that Australia’s loyalty to Iraq will be remembered and recognised.

Our first meeting on Sunday in Iraq was with the Prime Minister, Mr Jaafari, a man who has now been part of three Iraqi administrations. Mr Jaafari expressed his appreciation that the Australian government had taken the time to travel to meet face to face with such senior members of the government. To travel for four days to spend one day in Baghdad is a significant exercise and one involving a great deal of security, something which was well understood by the Prime Minister and his deputy, Mr Chalabi. Mr Jaafari spoke very warmly of the relationship between our two countries and, in particular, with our Prime Minister, Mr Howard, whom he has met twice: once in Baghdad during Mr Howard’s visit and once in New York. He declared Australia to be a very good friend of Iraq.

Mr Chalabi, prior to his time as a senior minister, was a resistance leader and in an earlier life was, in fact, a maths professor at an American university in Beirut. He is a very personable character. He has a keen interest in international affairs and is very well briefed on Australia. In fact, he was particularly well briefed on the details of the Cole inquiry. It was surprising to travel so far to meet with somebody who knew so much about the detail and the evidence that has come before the inquiry. I have to say that he was very firm on behalf of the Iraqi government in making it extremely clear that in the short term the government had no plans to deal with the Australian Wheat Board. He did, however, differentiate, thankfully, the quality of the product, the consistency of supply and the loyalty to Iraq from the supplier, AWB. I am very optimistic, and growers in Australia, particularly in my state of South Australia, can be reassured, that those criteria—the loyalty, the quality and the consistency over 58 years—will be taken into account when future contracts are determined.

I wanted also to thank very much the members of the Kansas National Guard who managed Saddam Hussein’s former palace, which had been turned into accommodation quarters for us to stay in. I must say it was the first time I had stayed in such a sumptuous hotel room, with gold furniture. It was more like the Palace of Versailles than a hotel in the Middle East. It was also the first time I slept in a room where the windows were totally sandbagged—quite a chilling experience.

I would also like to thank the members of the Australian and United States defence forces who provided transport, security and advice to the delegation. These people, particularly our own people in Iraq, have such dedication. We met with a group of them: enthusiastic, fit young Australian men and women who are doing their bit for their country, so far away from home. I met with a woman from Newcastle who, after six months, was looking forward to going home yesterday. She told me that life in Iraq is tough, particularly when it is 50 degrees, but never once did she flinch from the opportunity. She loved the experience and she valued her opportunity to serve her country. There were so many of those people; it made you feel really proud to be an Australian.

Finally, can I thank the Prime Minister for giving me the opportunity to take part in this delegation to represent Australian wheat growers and work towards gaining new contracts for their product. I would just like to assure them that Australia is on the map in Iraq and I am very optimistic that before long our trade will be resumed in this very important market.