Cover story

The consul speaks

TQ: Do you think the Territory – Jakarta relationship is different from the Canberra - Jakarta relationship, or is it the same?

H: No, it is not the same. Judging from my three years here, I find that the Territory’s views on Indonesia are different from the southern view. That is because of their proximity, perhaps, and the intensity of the interaction between the two peoples. Territorians know Indonesia.

Although with the present government in place, under the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, I’ve sensed the changing views from the south. It seems that Prime Minister Rudd’s close relations with our President ‘SBY’ [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono], is making this interaction between Australia and Indonesia more solid. It shows strong personal relationships make our countries closer.

TQ: It seems that the number one trade sector between the Territory and Indonesia continues to be live cattle.

H: Live cattle are the main export from the Territory to Indonesia. Now, as a follow up of the President’s visit, our government is preparing a policy that encourages all of the eastern provinces to offer their potentials for the economic cooperation with Australia.

Both countries are looking at increasing cooperation in a number of areas. On our side, our government sees that as part of its priorities the cooperation with the eastern part of Indonesia is strategically important. I just read that the Coordinating Minister for Economic and Industry in Jakarta has recently invited all the governors of eastern Indonesia to set a kind of policy on how to increase the relations between Australia and Indonesia focusing on mining and live cattle.

They are now looking for investment from Territorians to do business in live cattle in Indonesia. We want to raise more live cattle in eastern Indonesia. But we are now still at the stage where our live cattle population is very limited. Demand is much higher than supply, and one of the main supplies is imports from Australia.

You’ll recall that a couple of months ago there was a rumour to discourage importation of live cattle over 350 kg. This is meant to develop our own fattening activities. If we do more fattening it will create jobs for local people.

TQ: Has that happened? Has the shipment of large animals been discouraged?

H: It seems that, because of the great demand, the policy will be rather difficult to be carried out. I met an Indonesian guy from Lombok working for an Australian exporter, who lives in both Darwin and Jakarta. I asked him about the statement discouraging the export of large 350 kg animals. He said, ‘I know the Indonesian situation. It is impossible for us to cut imports because of the [lack of] availability of live cattle in Indonesia.’

It is impossible for us to raise thousands of head of cattle on open land in Indonesia. We don’t have the big open land like in the Territory. I have told our Ministry of Agriculture that for live cattle, the Territory and Indonesia need each other. We are interdependent.

TQ: You have attended a number of trade missions organised by the Territory Government, dealing with servicing the Indonesian mining sector. Do you think there’s room to expand mining supply?

H: I also view that Territorians are very strong in the mining and oil and gas services. You’ve got so many service companies while we have so many mining projects all over Indonesia. For the last three or four years we’ve seen some Territory companies establish joint venture companies in Balikpapan to service mining projects there. I see an increasing trend there.

In North Moluccas (Maluku) there is a very big mining project underway now. We have been contacted by Airnorth requesting information about air facilities between Darwin and the North Moluccas (Maluku) island of Halmahera. Judging from the distance, Darwin is very suitable as a supply base for many Indonesian projects.

TQ: During your tenure in Darwin there seem to be increasing cultural links between the Territory and Indonesia.

H: Yes. I’ve sensed that there is more interest in Indonesia from the Territory’s business and government sectors. We managed to present Pesona Indonesia in each of my three years – the cultural show in conjunction with the Darwin Festival. For the last two Pesonas we had between 3000 and 4000 attendance at each one.

Demand is much higher than supply, and one of the main supplies is imports from Australia.

TQ: You also are a supporter of Sail Indonesia, an event that attracted over a hundred yachts last year.

H: We now have the support of the Territory Government. Last year the rally was in conjunction with Sail Bunaken, which was linked to the World Ocean Conference. We had festivities in Manado for Sail Indonesia / Sail Bunaken 2009 participants. This year, in July, we will focus on Sail Indonesia / Sail Banda 2010, Moluccas – a very historic place that was the centre of the spice trade hundreds of years ago.

Moreover, we also had a large contingent of nearly 450 athletes participating at the last Arafura Games, including 250 from West Papua and Papua. The Governor of West Papua who was accompanying his contingent was very impressed with Marrara Stadium. It is not so luxurious, but they have excellent facilities, all in one complex. He is very interested in copying the design for West Papua.

TQ: You have nearly completed your posting. Where do you go from here?

H: Jakarta - back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And from there... who knows.

Future food

As keynote speaker at the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association annual conference, Professor David Hughes’ message to the assembled pastoralists was clear: Because your product costs more than other meats you must justify that cost to consumers. And you do not justify that cost on the basis of taste or tenderness. You must emphasise the strong story behind your product – cattle reared on the vast grasslands of northern Australia. It is a product that is natural, green and safe,” the Emeritus Professor of Food Marketing at London’s Imperial College told the audience. “You can beat a drum on all three of those qualities.”

The professor backed up his advice by showing that consumer food buying trends were the same across the globe - from Boston to Beijing. People will pay extra for foods that boast high quality ingredients as well as meat from free ranging animals, employing high animal welfare standards. Asian buyers want the same safe, quality foods as Europeans, with stricter food safety measures coming into play globally.

Hughes stated that although red meat production is being attacked on environmental and health grounds, the Territory industry has a green story to tell. “Cattle production is under the gun for emissions and the like but look at the landscape here. What would you do with it if you didn’t run cattle on it? It’s the optimum use of a valuable resource. The public needs to be educated about that,” he said.

Professor Hughes gave his audience a glimpse into the future of food consumption. Figures show that among many Asian consumers, beef is one of the least favourite meats after seafood, pork and chicken - and it costs twice as much. He showed that though meat consumption will rise across Asia, beef will always battle for market share because of the ways Asians buy and eat their meat. They buy from open-air wet markets, but countries that have seen strong increases in incomes tend to shop more frequently at supermarkets.

That will probably happen in the next 20 years in Indonesia, the Territory’s number one customer of live cattle. With incomes on the rise, a stronger Indonesian middle class will turn to supermarkets and packaged beef. “Your children will probably not be involved in the live cattle export,” Professor Hughes told the cattlemen. “But let’s not panic about that. The way Asians will shop will change as their income goes up, but they’ll feel comfortable about buying safe, natural green product from Australia that’s processed in Darwin and sold as thinly sliced packaged meat in their supermarkets.”

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