 First, I'd like to acknowledge all the distinguished ladies and gentlemen here, but most are very important amongst those is Aunty Agnes Shea, and I thank Aunty Agnes for welcoming us to the Nullarwall People's Country. I'm very pleased to join you for the 2016 ABIS Outlook Conference. My third as the Agricultural Minister and now as Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. It is also my great honour to address you today as the Deputy Prime Minister for Commonwealth of Australia and to do so as the first Deputy Prime Minister to hold the agricultural portfolio since Lance Barnard and the Whitlam Barnard Dimeford for two weeks in December 1972. That's because I understand the tremendous importance of agriculture and water resources, which are more important today than ever in the 21st century. Ever since I entered politics, my goal has always been to achieve a better return to the farm gate. I believe I have a moral obligation to keep doing that. That's why I asked to keep the portfolio. Coming off the land, I've always said that agriculture is a noble profession, to feed people and clothe people, to provide people with the timber to which to build their houses for families to live in. Agriculture is not the beneficiary of the exploitation of people's weaknesses. It is crucial for people's sustenance. I know I am incredibly lucky to end up in this position, and that luck should mean that I return to the group of people for some of the effort that they put in every day in raising their stock, in growing their crops, in the labour in their forests and the fishing on the sea. What I present today is a report, a card of what we've done, as well as a plan for where we are going in the future. This is a government that values the agricultural sector, and by agriculture I include, as I've said, all the facets of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, grain production, beef production, and has worked consistently to build a better long-term potential as a key pillar of our economy. It is genuinely becoming an economic pillar of this economy that sustains this economy. We've now concluded three major free trade agreements with Korea, Japan and China, and the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, is going through ratification processes by the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership parties. Work on other trade deals also continues, and just as importantly, my department's technical market access work is, of course, ongoing. Trade agreements may be cutting the ribbon on the bridge, but the agricultural department actually builds the bridge. That is to say, trade agreements open the discussion, but the technical agreements and the movement of product resides with agricultural department in respective nations, and therefore the agricultural department in respective nations are crucial to the actual movement of product. New biosecurity legislation takes effect in June to protect our primary industries and reflect the reality of a modern trade and travel. We've invested more than 685 million in drought assistance. We've delivered the $4 billion agricultural competitiveness white paper and made substantial progress in implementing those measures. For example, we have recently, in the last week or so, appointed the first agricultural commissioner to the ACCC, Mr Mick Keough, and we currently have in the parliament the legislation pertaining to the farm management bonds, which will double them from $400,000 to $800,000, and our offsets to be granted against the loan on your place, basically giving, especially young farmers, the capacity to get a tax deduction for paying off their place. This is something we want to progress, because we believe that equity in the farm is the greatest protection mechanism for any person on the land. Of course, we've bought water back in the agricultural portfolio, where the socio and economic issues can rightfully be assessed as a key factor and the challenges we face in such substantial tasks as the implementation of the Murray Darling Basin Plan. If we would truly believe in investing in agriculture to secure our future as a theme of this conference today, then we must do our very best to remove the vagaries of that future and having a clear understanding of the requirements of the Murray Darling Basin is a crucial example of this. This conference, to be honest, couldn't come at a more pertinent time. Ongoing growth in global demand for food and fibre is delivering huge opportunities for Australia. Anyone that has any doubt left about what that opportunity will look like need only look to and check the forecast that ABERS has delivered. Growth in global food demand alone will require a 75% increase in global food production by 2050 compared with the 2007 levels. Global cereals consumption is projected to increase by 62% to 2050 compared to 2007, taking it from, in today's term, 381 billion to 617 billion. Global meat consumption is projected to increase by 106% to 2050 compared with 2007, taking it from 496 billion to over a trillion dollars, 1,024 billion. Or to express it in volume terms, the United Nations has forecast global grains demand by 2050 of 3 billion tonnes per annum, up 1 billion tonnes from 2005 to 2007 levels. And global meat demand from 470 million tonnes per annum up by 200 million tonnes from 2005 to 2007 average levels. Somebody somewhere has to grow these products. Australia is very well placed to take advantage of this growing demand, not least because much of it will be the demand from our regional neighbours and existing trading partners, but also because that we have the potential, the potential areas and the potential water and the potential ground and the clean green image to do it. It is also clear that this demand is not just about food volume. It reflects a growing international market for the kind of high-value produce and high-quality expertise which Australia excels. We can move Australian products not because, we move Australian products not because they are cheap because in many instances they are not. We move them because they are quality. If you want to see quality manifest in the supermarket, you only have to go to the Middle East or to Japan and to see the Australian product next to products from other parts around the world. It's a global Olympics and as a global Olympics, your product stands right next to a product from another country. And as such, you're judged on quality. People are prepared to pay your premium for quality. But we can't take this increased market share for granted. We need to work hard to earn our place as a valued supplier. As a nation, we must excel in creating high-value products and know-how as well as negotiating access to the right markets willing to pay the right price. We must get a better return back to the farm gate. This is crucial. It's all about getting a better return back through the farm gate and securing the future of the Australian farming family in the global marketplace. For me, it's the Australian farming family and the return that they get that drives me. It is the purpose of my job. A key issue we must focus on is how we can improve the level of Australian investment in our agricultural industries and make it clear that it's a good investment. I hope you have heard me say it now by now, but our soft commodity market, especially the protein market, has been doing exceptionally well. Rural exports and have now overtaken coal to be our second largest export after iron ore. Fundamentally, if there are more people, you will need to feed more people, to provide more protein, to provide more carbohydrates, to provide more fibre, to provide more timber. If you own a share, and it was called the Easton Young Cattle Indicator, since we came to government in September 2013, then you would have doubled your money. If you had a share called Steers being sold through Dubbo, you would have doubled your money. If you had a share called Heffers being sold through Roma, you would have more than doubled your money. If you had one called Live Cattle Sales through Darwin, you would have more than doubled your money. If you had a share called Lamb Sales, you would have got more than 25% on your money. For pork, you would have got better than 25% on your money since September 2013. In other markets, such as chickpeas and almonds, we've also been doing exceptionally well. If you had a share called Chickpeas, you would have got a 150% return for your money. If you had a share called Strawberries, you would have got a 25% return for your money. I am, of course, aware that not all commodities can enjoy good prices at the same time. Dairy prices have been hit by a number of downward pressures. The Russian agricultural trade embargo against Australia and several other countries, and consequent buildup of dairy supplies in the EU and the recent slowdown demand from China has brought a downturn in this. Yet, balance this up against the long-term outlook as expressed in no better way than the purchase of VDL by the Chinese. They obviously see the future in that commodity as well. Foreign investors will understand the long-term value of Australian agriculture and lining up to invest. What we have seen so much, and I hope we've been seeing it in the slides as I've gone through, is that there has been that our potential, especially for such areas as super funds, has not really reflected what I believe is the exceptional opportunity. Only 0.3% of super funds, and we have about $2 trillion now in super funds, is invested in agriculture. 1% was the maximum exposure of any fund. I've had a look at some of these funds in my discussion with asset managers, and this issue I find perplexing. I wonder if agriculture was a better or worse investment than being over-weighted in coal shares. I saw one fund, and on their investment portfolio, I think it was a $6,800,000 capital investment in a pipeline from Russia to the Ukraine. I've got my suspicions. I think there might be an impairment on that asset. ANZ estimates there is capital investments and requirements in agriculture between now and 2050 of $600 billion to enable production growth, and a further $400 billion needed to support farm turnover. According to the BDO report, foreign direct investment in agriculture has traditionally been quite strong in Australia. This is ultimately beneficial for the sector and the economy as a whole, assuming it's the right investors at the appropriate arrangement according to our research on superannuation investment in Australian agriculture. Foreign investors are more likely to purchase agricultural assets than domestic counterparts. This means that these local assets may be an unrealised opportunity for potential Australian investors. We have to make sure that we create a culture where investment in the agricultural portfolio is just as logical as investment in the iron ore portfolio or the coal portfolio or the infrastructure portfolio, because when we look at exactly where we are in this globe and the exact requirements of the globe and the buying patents and desires of our near neighbours and their increase as they make their way into the middle class, then to be in the country, which is the source of this wealth and for our own people, the people of this nation, not to be a greater participator in this wealth, is a paradox, a paradox that I think we really need to deal with. We really need to get on top of. We really need to move at the times and get with a long-term profile in the agricultural sector so that we can give that benefit that we see so apparent, because you're all turned up here today for some reason, that we see that benefit in the agricultural sector so that someone who is walking down Martin Place or walking down Collins Street or walking through Cabra Matter can also feel that they are an owner of the Australian asset. And the greatest conduit to that is people's superannuation. And there is the capacity, with $2 trillion in it, there is the capacity for this to happen. We should be working out how we do it. We can't call ourselves a smart country, the clever country. We're not even clever enough to work out how to make that connection between the person on the street and the agricultural asset in their return. It is very clear that Australia's future depends on a diverse economy, which in every, which every sector contributes to. That's as it should be. Australian exports take their rightful place in that economy and remain consistently strong year in, year out. In 2016, 2017, the value of Australian agricultural production is forecasted to top $60 billion with exports of $45 billion projected in the same year. You can't argue with numbers like that. The contribution that agriculture makes to our economy has remained remarkably resilient and consistent. Importantly, as a nation, we cannot afford to diminish the role of the farming families in our nation. Or lessen the contribution they make through neglect and poor policies. When the decisions we make place those farming families enterprises first and secure for them real returns that allows them to invest in their future business and deliver them opportunities to reach new markets with better products than every agricultural enterprise will prosper. It will prosper at the Kema shop. It'll prosper at the hardware store. It'll prosper with new teachers. It'll prosper with a better standard of living for people in country areas. That is one of the reasons that I stayed in this agricultural portfolio because it's inexibly linked to every person who lives in regional areas. Our opportunity as a nation is to back the people who make that contribution as they continue to better the lives of all Australians and millions more across the globe through their work. Some people may be uncertain about the continued growth of soft commodity prices but despite the inevitable fluctuations that happen in any commodity market the long-term outlook for sustained growth on a global demand especially across Asia is excellent. Investors from other nations recognise this enormous opportunity and are investing in Australia. We have no trouble attracting foreign investment. They're lined up outside the door trying to come in. So what is our plan for the future? Why should this turnable joist coalition government, a Prime Minister and a Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources government, why should the government, why should this government be given an opportunity to continue with this important work into the future? Apart from more than $400 million in drought-concessional loans made available to farmers in need which our government has provided, the government has provided access to $2.5 billion or one quarter of a billion dollars each year in drought loans over the next 10 years. The government has provided $12.5 million just this week for the Murray-Darling Basin irrigation infrastructure, upgrade infrastructure just this week. Work on Chaffee Dam is near completion and will complete in the next couple of months. $120 million is being invested in dams infrastructure in Tasmania and we have a plan for further investment in water infrastructure across our nation. We are currently assessing dams for both the north of Western Australia, for the Kimberleys, for Darwin, for the Gulf, for the tropical coast, for northern New South Wales, for southern New South Wales, for Victoria, for Tasmania, for infrastructure in South Australia. We have a plan and I want to stay in this portfolio to make sure we see this plan through and deliver on this infrastructure. There is never a better example of how we can actually grow the pie, so to speak, grow our economic base than what I saw as an accountant in St George. We're a dry acre, maybe we've got $250, $300 an acre, but an irrigated acre would pay up to $13,000 an acre. Why? Because it was reflection on the economic potential of that land. And if we want to grow our economic base, we have to grow our investment in irrigated agriculture. And this is not a unique idea. This is an idea that has been part of man and civilisation for as long as it has been about. If we continue on this program, then we have a reason to ask the Australian people to give us the great responsibility and the incredible honour of continuing on as a government. We've bought about commissioners to make sure that we get fairness for farmers. We're investing to make sure that transaction that happens between the small and the big is better assessed and fair. Apart from research and development, we have done controlling pests such as rabbits and wild dogs. We are moving towards creating a culture of excellence and innovation. This will happen not just in Canberra but in regional towns that support agricultural industries. Every country has its strategic advantage and every country has a role to be as strong as it can in as many possible areas. It is denied the absolute truth that one of our greatest, if not our greatest strategic advantage and where we lie in the world and who we are lies with agriculture. And any competent government will ensure that it's best endeavours are given to this portfolio. For that reason, not so much for myself but for agriculture and water resources, it has now been moved to the second highest office in the land. That is a clear statement by this government to where we believe agriculture truly resides. The fact that you are here today clearly shows that you also hold that belief. And what I present today, hopefully, is that we can all work as part of that program. If we all work together, if we manage to make the best of this opportunity that we can see in front of us, then we do the best thing not only for agriculture but for our nation as a whole. All the best and God bless.