David Williams

Northern Australia has been on the nose for the past 60 years, according to David Williams, the principal of corporate advisor to the food, agriculture and beverage industries, Kidder Williams.

Speaking at the Global Food Forum hosted by The Australian newspaper in April this year, Mr Williams pointed to previous attempts to develop the north had been hampered by disease, the heat, floods, cyclones, bugs, labour shortages and the high cost of getting produce to market. Continue reading →

Josh Frydenberg

The Turnbull Government is committed to unlocking the potential of the north, former Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia (now Minister for the Environment and Energy) Josh Frydenberg told the Global Food Forum in Melbourne in April.

Mr Frydenberg said one of the challenges was to improve the supply chains for agriculture.  To that end the Government was rolling out a $100 million beef road initiative to lower the cost of transport for cattle which could be up to 40 per cent of the total cost involved. Continue reading →

Treasury Wine Estates chief executive Michael Clarke

The wine industry worldwide is ripe for consolidation, according to Treasury Wine Estates chief executive Michael Clarke.

Mr Clarke was responding to a question put to him by John Durie, business columnist with The Australian at the Global Food Forum the newspaper hosted in April.

“We’re probably the third or fourth biggest wine company in the world and we have globally less than a three per cent share,” he said. “So it’s an incredibly fragmented business.”

Continue reading →