HANSARD EXTRACT
| Private
Members' Business: Farmers |
|
27 March 2006 |
Mr HAYES
(Werriwa) (5.20 p.m.)—Let
me start by firstly congratulating Tasmanian farmers on their
initiative and their campaign, together with their support for the
member for Lyons, to pursue clearer country of origin labelling for
foods and agricultural products. I suppose the decision by
McDonald’s to source potatoes from an overseas supplier brought all
this to a head, particularly in looking at the economy of Tasmania,
where agriculture clearly rates very highly in the contribution to
its economic position.
Clearly companies such as McDonald’s can easily
rationalise decisions to source the supply of essential agricultural
products and foodstuffs, potatoes in this case, simply by referring
us back to the basic and immediate aspects of economic viability at
any particular point in time. Sadly,
McDonald’s at that stage did not have regard for its own position
in the marketplace, and it did not have much regard for the
livelihood of farmers in
Tasmania
or those who work for farmers in
Tasmania.
Last year we had a rather bizarre situation
where farmers in
Tasmania
were being encouraged to plough their cauliflower into the ground
rather than to try to take it to market, simply because supermarkets
were able to access overseas cauliflower at an almost dumped price
into the Australian market, debasing the essential economics of
farming in
Tasmania.
Companies do not necessarily deserve to have a life raft thrown to
them every time that there is an economic imperative confronting
industry but, quite frankly, a country that fails to be able to feed
itself by not being able to grow its own food and to sustain itself
agriculturally is a country in decline. I would actually submit that
what the member for Lyons has done with his colleagues in support of
the people of Tasmania, and what the farmers themselves have done,
is draw the attention of the Australian population at large to the
fact that, unless we do scrutinise the sourcing of our food
products, quite clearly we will become a country in decline because
we will actually lose the ability to feed ourselves. That is not
simply deleterious to our economy; that is deleterious to our own
strategic security. A country that cannot feed itself will suffer
the fate of others that have gone before it and find itself in
decline. Having said that, that is not dissimilar from a country
that fails to be able to manufacture for itself. For instance, if we
lose the ability to be able to manufacture and produce our goods in
this country through simply relying on the skills, ability and
cheaper costs of some overseas subsidised suppliers, we will lose
our strategic ability as a country to be able to compete not only in
an immediate economic sense but also well into the future.
I hope that, as a result of country of origin
labelling, consumers will scrutinise what is in their shopping
trolleys from here on in and give first preference to an Australian
product. Similarly, I hope that Australian farmers, as a result of
this campaign, will also scrutinise their plant and consumables and
see that what is capable of being manufactured in
Australia
is manufactured in Australia. For instance, I trust that people,
including the farmers responsible for this campaign, will understand
the concerns of Qantas employees who recently tried to ensure that
the airline would retain Australian labour in servicing Australian
aircraft. They are moving to protect not only Australian jobs but
also the strategic ability of this country to service itself. Simply
turning away 300,000 kids from TAFE over the last 10 years, so
jeopardising the skills base of this country, has an extreme and
deleterious effect on the further economic security of this country.
I support the motion that has been put forward, I congratulate the
farmers of
Tasmania
on the stand that they have taken and I congratulate the member for
Lyons for bringing this to our attention. (Time expired)
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