Kath Sullivan
Canberra, ACT
As national rural reporter, Kath reports for the ABC across television, radio and online from Parliament House in Canberra. Kath has spent more than a decade reporting on rural and regional affairs across Australia. After a four-year stint working for rural newspaper The Weekly Times, Kath returned to the ABC in 2018 where she first began her career as a rural reporter in Victoria’s Gippsland.
Latest by Kath Sullivan
Government opens up chequebook to offer water buybacks for Murray-Darling Basin farmers
The federal government will go to tender next month seeking the rights to up to 70 gigalitres of water from farmers in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, through the first major water entitlements buyback program since new laws were introduced last year.
Analysis
analysis:Will the cost of living ever go down? Food prices are on the rise despite multiple supermarket inquiries
Food, mortgages and power bills — with the cost of living dominating, will this week’s supermarket inquiry make a difference?
Australian beef exports to China can resume after trade war suspension, minister says
Five major Australian beef exporters suspended from exporting meat to China can now resume, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has confirmed.
How almonds became one of Australia's most valuable crops
From humble nut to Australia's milk alternative of choice, how did Australian almonds become a billion-dollar business?
Analysis
analysis:Younger people aren't drinking wine, and there's too much for sale
Too much wine might not seem like a problem, but take a drive through Australian wine country and you'll quickly see how a global glut has created a crisis.
King Island desperate to ship cattle to Victoria as drought takes hold
It is normally lush and green, but King Island is drought-stricken and its farmers are calling for help to ship their cattle and sheep north to the mainland.
Airports caught thousands of travellers with biosecurity risks in 2023, including holy water from the Ganges
A live toad, holy water from the Ganges and an aphrodisiac made from donkeys are among the more unusual items detected at Australian airports and mail centres.
Indonesia suspends cattle farmer after mystery death of more than 100 cattle on export ship
Indonesia has temporarily banned imports of live cattle from one Australian property, as investigations continue into how more than 100 cattle died on the Brahman Express that sailed from Darwin.
More than 100 cattle die at sea in export from Australia to Indonesia
More than 100 Australian cattle have died on a live export ship to Indonesia — likely one of the highest mortality rates ever reported on an Australian livestock shipment.
China's wine report finds tariffs not necessary as final decision expected by March 31
Beijing appears to be just weeks away from removing tariffs that have crippled Australia's wine industry since 2020, with an interim decision by China's authorities reporting that the duties are no longer necessary.
Analysis
analysis:Trade war fallout continues as exporters hope for good news
Australia hopes China will soon drop tariffs on its wine, but the trade war continues to wreak havoc.
First water buybacks agreed in $205 million deal
Australia's Water Minister Tanya Plibersek has completed the first Commonwealth water buybacks in the Murray-Darling Basin since 2020.
Anxiety on the rise over 'sensational' weather stories
Sensational reporting and social media are being blamed for driving fear and anxiety about weather amid confusion about how to understand official forecasts.
The Murray is a lifeline for Australia's food and water supply, but the climate's changing
Its water creates a home, a playground and a food bowl – but those who live on the Murray believe it can be managed better. We take a look at life on Australia's longest river.
China lifts restrictions on Australian abattoirs as trade tensions ease
Analysts say the protracted bans were part of a campaign of economic punishment conducted by China against Australia due to political tensions.
Gas projects to require Commonwealth approval after Labor-Greens deal expands water trigger
Unconventional gas production, including from the Northern Territory's Beetaloo Basin, will require new approvals from the Commonwealth after the government brought forward its plans to expand a so-called water trigger.
'Green Wall Street' passes parliament despite claims Labor is rushing legislation
New laws that would allow farmers and other land managers to cash in on nature-boosting practices passes parliament after Tanya Plibersek struck a deal with the Greens, her second in less than 10 days.
Analysis
analysis:Tasked with drinking from the poisoned chalice, Plibersek lives to fight another day
It took an excommunicated Liberal, former Wallabies captain and the Greens to — depending on who you ask — save or completely stuff the Murray-Darling Basin this week.
$50 million river deal to green-light environmental water buybacks
The Commonwealth will have a green light to enter the water market and buy irrigation water from farmers to boost the environment, with the Albanese government securing the numbers to re-write the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
Government strikes Murray-Darling Basin deal with Greens
The government has struck a deal with the Greens that could see more than 700 gigalitres of water used for farming each year, allocated to the environment.
Australia's sheep industry is in downturn, so when will chops get cheaper?
Too many sheep is bad news for farmers but the oversupply should drive down costs for customers.
Farmers call on government to walk away from 'dud' EU trade deal
Farmers' groups say a proposed trade deal with the European Union would send some commodities backwards and is a bad deal for "every sector of Australian agriculture".
Farmers say live export ban will jeopardise trade relationship as prices continue to fall
As sheep prices continue to plummet across the country, more than 20 agricultural organisations have co-signed a letter to the prime minister, urging the government not to ban live exports of the animal.
Drought looms after record-low rainfall, but this extreme turn in the weather is not unusual
El Niño is back and drought is on the doorstep. Some farmers have been feeding livestock for months. Here's what it might mean for the economy and food prices.
Indonesia poised to resume live cattle imports from Australia
While no formal agreement has been reached, the government says recent discussions have been positive, after the prime minister raised the matter with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo.