The mood is not happy among Australia's agricultural export customers in the Middle East, says federal opposition trade spokesman and NSW North Coast MP, Kevin Hogan.
The government's contentious decision to block plans for extra Qatar Airways flights to Australia had inflamed discontent already brewing because of Labor's pledge to phase out sheep live exports to the region.
Last weekend Qatar Airways chief executive, Akba Al Baker, said he remained hopeful the decision would be reversed, but he considered the recent rejection of its plans for up to 28 more Australian capital city landing slots each week as "very unfair".
The airline was blindsided by the federal government decision, particularly given the strong relationship Qatar established during the COVID pandemic lockdowns when it maintained regular and vital air services to Australia.
Qatar's passenger flights to and from Australia commenced in 2017, providing a valued export avenue for perishable food products in their cargo holds.
In fact, one of the key reasons the sovereign-owned airline continued flying to Australia at the height of the COVID pandemic was to maintain fresh food supplies to its home hub in Doha, given Qatar and surrounding Arab Gulf States were highly dependent on imports for food security.
Mr Hogan, who has been in the United Arab Emirates this week as part of a parliamentary trade delegation to the region, noted Middle East customers had been long standing buyers of Australian wheat, barley, red meat, horticulture, seafood and dairy products and deserved respect as valued trade partners.
"Generally speaking, our friends in the Middle East are not terribly happy with the way our food trade relationships are going," he said.
Export opportunities to the region were also being frustrated by the federal government's decision to prioritise trade development grant opportunities to export markets in Asia, swinging the focus away from emerging customers in the Gulf and North African region.
He said Australia's latest export figures showed an overall two per cent decline, suggesting any growth opportunities, including more air freight, should be promoted, not restricted.
The federal government's July decision to block Qatar Airways prompted outrage from tourist industry businesses, airport operators and exporters, triggering the federal senate to start an inquiry this week into how it was made and the way landing slots are managed.
Mr Hogan said Transport Minister, Catherine King, had a lot of work to do explaining why it was in the national interest to stymie Qatar's request.
He said Nationals senate leader, Bridget McKenzie, would "certainly be pursuing this decision's cost to agricultural trade" during inquiry hearings in Canberra, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane.
"There's a lot of air freight which can go in the bellies of those planes," he said.
"Under the circumstances, with the current shortage of available space, I think 28 extra flights would be quite reasonable, and airport operators feel that way, too."
Red meat exports to the Middle East and North Africa region currently total more than $1 billion, with sheepmeat the market's preferred choice.
Sheep Producers Australia chief executive officer, Bonnie Skinner, said it was unfortunate trusted trade relationships built between Australia and the Middle East over the past 60 years, or more, were being strained by "poorly thought through" decisions in Canberra.
The Qatar decision had also further eroded producer confidence in the government's capacity to understand these sensitive markets or manage "catastrophic" industry changes like ending live exports.
Air freight space was already at a premium in Western Australia where Ms Skinner was hearing reports of producers being notified mid-loading that their consignments were "bumped" and sheep had to be returned to the paddock.
Although consumers and regulators in the hot Middle East and North Africa region had strict practical preferences for, and cultural commitments to, freshly slaughtered sheepmeat, the MENA market became Australia's largest air freighted sheepmeat destination, pre-COVID - about 62pc.
According to Meat and Livestock Australia, chilled sheepmeat, mostly in carcase form, subsequently accounted for an estimated 68pc of all outbound Australian air-freight volume to MENA in 2018, the year it surpassed sea freight on a volume and value basis.
Ms Skinner visited the region in May as part of a delegation to reinforce the sheep industry's regard for trading relationships with the Middle East and to better understand the red meat and livestock trade's value to these countries.
She said Labor's live export agenda had clearly left a bad feeling that few in Australia understood the Arab market's cultural needs.
"These countries have also firmly stated they will source live sheep from other places if Australia withdraws from the trade," she said.
"Our government should be considering the messages it sends to our international markets when it is making policy decisions."
Meanwhile, back at home, particularly in WA, sheep producers were left despondent about Canberra's seemingly indifferent attitude, which had collided with limited market alternatives for their sheep, or processing capacity and freight options.
Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
