Sue McCluskey: Special Representative for Australian Ag highlights importance of storytelling and Singapore

Answering questions, explaining the facts and telling Australia’s agricultural stories has been the job of Australia’s first Special Representative for Australian Agriculture Su McCluskey since she was appointed in November 2021.

Ms McCluskey spoke at the WAFarmers conference in Perth on March 17, where she outlined her role and the opportunities and challenges facing Australian agriculture on the international stage.

After outlining some issues — including government subsidies in international markets and a lack of understanding of Australian farming practices and standards, as well as preconceived ideas in the lead-up to a free trade agreement with the European Union — Ms McCluskey highlighted the importance of markets closer to home.

During the past 14 months, Ms McCluskey has travelled to the EU, New Zealand, the US, Vietnam, South America, Japan, Singapore and the Pacific.

Along the way, she has been promoting Australian agriculture and looking for ways to improve trade and work with like-minded nations on global initiatives.

She said many exporters had been looking to the larger markets like Japan and China, and now India, but they should not overlook Singapore as a market of opportunity as the country tries to set it self up as the trading hub for agricultural produce for the region.

“Singapore was a very interesting visit — its a place we tend to overlook,” Ms McCluskey said.

“They import virtually all their food but they have an aspiration to produce 30 per cent (of their domestic needs) by 2030, but they don’t actually have an ag sector themselves.

“When it comes to biosecurity and other regulations to entry, it’s actually a very easy country to get into.”

Ms McCluskey said industry tended to “overlook Singapore” and prioritise Japan.

“Singapore is somewhere we shouldn’t discount — they are also looking to make themselves a hub for South East Asia,” she said.

Ms McCluskey said her first trip was a fact-finding mission to the EU, which was an eye-opener as to how Australia was perceived, and revealed how important it was “to get our stories out there”.

“We have a great story to tell but we are not necessarily cutting through — especially on our environmental credentials,” she said.

She said the EU was pushing a one-size-fits-all policy on the environment but it wouldn’t work due to the different climates and systems in place around the world.

“There’s no one size fits all approach,” Ms McCluskey said.

“If we don’t let people know what we are doing they are only going to be looking to Europe.

“We need to get to a stage where we say, ‘this is what works for us’, and not be dictated to by other markets.”

She mentioned the four Cs — COVID, conflict (particularly with Russia and the Ukraine), climate change and now cost of living.

“These all mean that we need to be really alert when it comes to making sure we can continue to have market access and continue to trade,” she said.

“Trade is so important for us, and here in WA even more so, given how important exports are.

“We need sustainability in terms of food production, food security and food safety but as farmers costs are going up, we need to remain productive but also profitable.”

In her second year in the role, Ms McCluskey plans to head to Chile and Vietnam to speak at conferences later this ear.

Ms McCluskey’s role also involves promoting the agricultural sector through the Federal Government’s Global Agriculture Leadership Initiative.

She runs a beef cattle farm in Yass, New South Wales, and sits on several boards including Australian Pork Research Institute, Australian Wool Network and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

The Federal Government has invested $15 million across four years under the Global Agriculture Leadership Initiative to step up Australia’s leadership in international agriculture and food policy discussions.

It was hoped that the increased effort would enhance Australia’s global reputation and leadership on agricultural trade, lift our engagement and influence in multilateral institutions and strengthen relationships with key like-minded partners.