Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, , 3:06:50 to 3:15:16
Senators question the department on R&D investment for emissions reduction and the sunsetting of the beef cattle herd management methodology.
Topics: Agricultural emissions, Beef exports, Emissions reduction
Speakers: Speaker 20, Speaker 21, Speaker 12
Senator McDonald. >> Thanks, Chair. Um, I won't ask Mr. Campbell to come back up. Mr. Granville, do you know what happens if Queensland beef goes across the border and is processed in, for example, New South Wales? Does it count as a New South Wales exporter or a Queensland export? >> It would count as a New South Wales. >> No. So, the numbers are even better. >> Well, we'll get that on the record next time. We'll put state of origin on the >> indeed. Uh I want to turn to the beef cattle herd management methodology and uh and uh emissions policy. Can I ask um does anyone there have the figure that agricultural industries have invested in research and development to support the government's emissions reduction program?
Uh so how much in
>> how much agricultural industries have spent on research and development for emissions reductions programs?
>> Well I'd have to check whether we do have that figure. I'll ask colleagues if we have it but I'm not aware that we do. >> Okay. >> Um but we can follow up if we don't. >> Thank you.
>> Uh Senator Nick belongs to technicality climate division. Uh so the short answer is no. We don't have a direct figure. There is uh a work that the council of RDC's has previously published around uh investments across all RDC's in uh climate related initiatives including around emissions reduction. So that is a public document and I'm happy to sort of uh extract uh some of that that work uh if it's useful uh to the committee but it is a is it a it is a published document. Uh that's probably the most as a pertinent figure that I could sort of give you in relation to the your line of questioning on on R&D expenditure.
>> All right. Do you have a figure for the red meat industry specifically for their expenditure in R&D
>> to support emissions red? >> I can check that report to see if that sort of provides that granular uh breakdown. It is a council of RDC document as opposed to a departmental document. Uh and I um I'm I think some of those RDC's are appearing later tonight as well. So could could go into details there too.
>> All right. Do you know what percentage of Australians of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions uh comes from agriculture? >> Uh 18.4% Senator. >> And do you know what percentage of Australian greenhouse gas emissions comes from beef production?
>> Uh roughly uh so 80% of agriculture emissions are from the livestock sector or thereabouts. So working backwards, it would be roughly sort of 14 or 15% of of national emissions would be from livestock and you could break that down by by animal as well. The greenhouse gas industry does provide a more granular uh data set too.
So that's illustrative. I'm uh my next question is is the department working with a Asian and EU trading partners to help them meet their emissions targets in addition to developing our own emissions targets.
>> Uh sorry the question is are we helping EU >> trading partners >> trading trading partners >> meet their emissions targets? uh not directly from a domestic uh policy sort of setting. Our priorities are really focused on uh innovation and R&D and uh greenhouse gas inventory improvements and onfarmm calculators and obviously the announcements around sort of the CRC that's been established um at the beginning of this financial year. So that's that's where our priorities are.
>> So turning now to the beef cattle herd management method. Is that the main policy for producers reducing emissions?
>> Uh Senator, so certainly the ACUE scheme more broadly and and carbon um ACU methods uh provide a financial market-based incentive to to drive sort of practice change. So uh the the pre the previous B3 method was uh I guess an example of that. Uh but it is not the only uh policy setting sort of focused on uh uh continuing to enhance Australian agricultures emissions profiles. We always caveat these these types of uh sort of policy settings around the fact that our our credentials globally are very favorable for Australian agriculture in terms of the the emissions profile, the nature of our production systems are are very efficient, which means they're globally very competitive when it comes to emissions intensity production. uh so their their starting point is is is very favorable and compared to uh competitors and industry's been investing in this space for a very long time a decade or more or more itself uh and certainly some of the the the features of the Agon land sector plan that was released last year acknowledge that work uh and very much uh frame uh the sort of forward work program around sort of partnering with industry around the work they're doing and coupling that with investments by government. So again, that goes to improvements to the greenhouse gas in inventory scheme, the development of more consistent, more robust uh sort of data standards to support onfarmm measurement of emissions as well. Uh there's the carbon farming outreach program to support a type of advice.
>> Interrupt you just for a second. Specifically, I'm looking for uh beef emissions reductions. And so I'm looking to see are there any other methods in place uh or in development for beef herd emissions reductions other than the beef cattle herd management method.
>> Uh there there I guess there are other carbon methods including around soil carbon methods that might be useful to livestock producers. No. Well, I'm I'm I'm I'm there sort of a broader context around ACUs. I accept that the in previous sort of lines of questioning at previous estimate senator around the importance of of having acu methods available to producers to uh encourage practice change and provide that financial incentive uh we we agree with and that's something I think uh at evidence given yesterday or late last night uh with Iraq uh the Iraq chair sort of pointed to the decisions pending in that space as well. uh but I guess my my broader framing goes to the fact that ACUEs are important and and industry uh is is very interested in in in sort of further ACUE methods but it's not the only uh it's not the only sort of policy or program initiative in this space.
Well, it actually is for beef uh the beef herd emissions reduction and it's the only one that pays and beef producers are telling me that they are now stepping back from this research and development because uh the sunset of the beef herd methodology um last year and the pause put on it since December 24 um means that this very expensive program has no pathway to achieve ACUs. And uh this is my challenge is that what do I direct what encouragement are beef herd producers supposed to be looking at to compensate them for the work that they would be doing on emissions reductions? And we've already had conversations at previous estimates about, you know, the potential of the safeguards mechanism being extended to herds of over 100,000 head. >> You know, there seems to be lots of sticks being waved around, but the carrots are completely gone.
>> Uh well, again, I can refer to the exchanges you had with the chair yesterday evening around decisions that might be pending around the uh a remake of the beef herd methods. So I understand that was that was canvased uh yesterday evening. Uh so DQ and Iraq are the the guardians if you like of the the ACU scheme. Uh and uh there is interest from both us and industry around new methods being made available to uh cover the gap that has emerged with the sunsetting of the previous beef herd