THERE are not many trips where you get to hand the fairer sex in your party a special dress for the occasion, but the ritualistic handing of the Abaya to my chief of staff before travelling to Saudi Arabia was one of those occasions.
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Of course, the Australian nature of teasing could not help but lend some levity to it, but I realise if I walk too far on this thin ice I may end up with the apparel stapled to me.
The Middle East has been a major destination for our agricultural products for a long time. Wheat, barley, live sheep, live cattle, frozen and chilled beef and mutton and dairy are just a few of our exports to the region.
With our attention on our Asian markets, it is important for me as the Agriculture Minister to send a clear message that old friends are gold when it comes to trading relationships, and in agriculture the Middle East is definitely an old friend.
For the vast majority of people you see there, Dubai seems to be a transit point to somewhere else. Culturally it allows you to put your toe in the Saudi Arabian water - from just across the water. As most people who have been there would understand, it’s a cosmopolitan shopping mall in the desert.
Riyadh is five million people in a fair dinkum desert. It is a Sydney-sized Birdsville, with what appears to be about the same number of parks and green spaces as you’ll find in Birdsville.
The Saudis I spoke to remembered Riyadh when it existed within the walls of the ancient village.
The modern Lu Lu's was owned by an Indian family and was the equivalent of Woolworths or Coles. It was urban Riyadh’s ‘racetrack for food’ from around the globe, and Australian products line up with the competition.
SPC and Ardmona tinned pears and fruit salad were on the shelves, as well as Bundaberg Ginger Beer and Picnic Bars, and although the locals were annoyed with the Australian carrots that flooded their market, they remained very popular. Lamb, mutton and beef sell very well and the local dairy processors buy milk powder and are only a heartbeat away from producing the ‘tradie special’; an iced coffee and kebab (halal style).
The tradie himself is most likely to be from somewhere other than Saudi Arabia, probably from Pakistan, India or the Philippines.
One issue that did not send the right messages to the Saudis was the closure of the live animal trade. They know there are issues and just as Riyadh has changed, and supermarkets are being built, they are changing to deal with better animal husbandry processes, but patronising moral notes from Australia are not helpful.
The Saudi Arabia consumer will do a far better job than our interference. They want clean, green and humane on display while listening to Arab tunes and pushing a shopping trolley.
There are other markets for live sheep and they’re currently sourcing them from Somalia, Sudan and Pakistan.
Prior to leaving for the Middle East I saw 80,000 head of sheep loaded in Freemantle and bound for Bahrain and elsewhere. It was the first shipment since the trade was stopped by the ban. There were ships lined up for more.
In Bahrain they were looking forward to the return to the regular relationship with what they hope is a reliable supplier.
On the Australian farm, they are looking forward to real competition for the sheep they turn off.
In Riyadh they are about to build a $US20 billion underground rail network and Australians are tendering for the business, so our relationship goes way beyond the farm gate.
Our official meetings in Saudi Arabia had to be brief because their agriculture department was about to lead a delegation to New Zealand that day, which shows our competition does not need a telegram to tell them that opportunity beckons.
Flying back over central Australia through the storms and observing the recently greened paddocks of eastern Australia, only reinforced what opportunities there are in supplying food to a world growing in wealth and number.
