The Honerable John Cobb,
Shadow Minister of Agriculture
Visiting Griffith
Dear John,
I am living in Victoria at present but
when I heard that you would be in Griffith I got quite excited because as
someone born in Griffith I do not want it to die. I wrote the following and
hoped that someone could present parts of it. When I phoned and found that
there would be a microphone handed around I realised that the session would be
a non event. This will be going to you, Peter Dutton and Barnaby and also to
farmers in Griffith and other palces.
Some months
ago I wrote to the ministers and shadow ministers of the Government and the
Coalition. An email was also sent to Barnaby Joyce and a wild card – Tony
Windsor. The only one to respond was Tony Windsor.
As
a person who has voted Country Party or National Party all his life I had seen Tony as an enemy. I had been disappointed that Tony had helped Julia Gillard into power but
whenever he spoke he seemed to make sense. There was another factor. Perhaps
the reason there was no response from Coalition members is that I strongly
believe that ever reducing tariffs are the main reason for Australia’s demise
of citrus, stone fruits, dairying and manufacturing. I still do not know how
Tony feels about this but he was prepared to take my selective tariff message
to the Minister for Agriculture. Tony’s persistence paid off and a letter was sent to me and parts of it will be quoted
here.
Petition.
We
are receiving enthusiastic response to our petition and we are aiming for at
least 10,000 signatures
Contaminated Brazilian orange concentrate.
Item
1 on the petition calls for an immediate ban on the import of contaminated
Brazilian orange concentrate. This ban would open up what we calculate to be
the opportunity for Australian orange growers to have sales at the right price
for up to 200,000 tons of oranges immediately. The Minister for Agriculture
implies that he will not consider a ban.
Our question to you and the member for Riverina is whether you would consider a
ban knowing that there is so much support for our petition.
The
presence of carbandazim in the
concentrate which was banned for use by Australian farmers at least two years
ago caused a ban by the United States. There was a ban in Australia but Citrus
Australia reported that after lobbying the ban was overturned. Our question to
you, to Citrus Australia and to the
member for Riverina is to investigate who lobbied who and were either one or
more of the lobbyists a company or companies who are possibly involved with or as
members of the very few cartels who are being accused of driving orange farm
owners in Brazil off their land.
The
Minister of Agriculture seems to have a lot of weasel words implying that the
levels of carbendazim are at acceptable health levels. The letter will be made
available to as wide an audience as possible.
An
additional health concern is the damage caused by citrus greening disease which
affects almost every citrus area in the world except Australia, the
Mediterranean and parts of California. The Minister for Agriculture accepts
that “Trees that are diseased with citrus greening produce bitter, hard,
misshapen fruit and die within a few years of being infected.” I produced a
flyer showing the mutated fruit and copies will be available in Michael’s
Griffith office and at the presentation on Tuesday evening in Griffith. We
invite you to advise whether you agree with the assessment of the Department of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry who “can find no evidence that any toxin is
present in diseased orange fruit.” I wonder whether they enjoyed their trips to
Brazil as they tested the fruit during
the first year while the trees are
dying.
Even if you
agree that the imported products are at levels accepted by scientists as being
within the health limits which they accept on behalf of those who enjoy the
juice from 800,000 tons of oranges per annum
there is another question. If only 200,000 tons of Australian oranges
are used compared to the 600,000 tons grown overseas would you deny our request
that at least a further200,000 tons of the freshest oranges in the world at the
right price should be used?
Selective Tariff Protection.
The second
item on our petition asks for selective tariff protection to save citrus, stone
fruits, dairying and manufacturing. We are so concerned that we have started an
amateurish web site to build up our case. It is:
Michael
sent me a letter confirming the National’s reasons for wanting to continue to reduce tariffs even though
oranges, stone fruits, dairying and manufacturing are extending their losses at
an ever increasing rate as can be seen by graphs which we have and plan to add
to our web site.
Currently I
am living in Victoria which was a manufacturing power house but that has also
been decimated by tariffs. The National member for Gippsland also wrote a
letter confirming the policy of the Nationals to move to ever reducing tariffs.
Economic outlook by economists.
In
Victoria apricots, pears and peaches are also being ruined so I sought out an
economist. We talked on the phone and disagreed on almost everything. I wrote
an open letter to the member – Darren Chester – and made comment about the
economist saying that Australia does not have a future as a fruit growing
country. The newspaper The Latrobe Valley Express will not print my letter. It
is shown in our web site.
We
have been asking for contact with an economist and an email has been sent to the
Lowy Institute, So far we have not had a response and now want you and Michael:
Do you believe that Australia has a future in
fruit growing? Do you know an economist who can provide an economic backing
either one way or another?
Concern for Truth in Advertising.
Some
farmers feel that the limits to truth in advertising for orange juice are a
serious problem for the citrus industry.
Tariff protection requires political changes. It would appear that the limits
to truth in advertising could be either
resolved on Tuesday evening or else a list of measureable actions could be
started on Tuesday.
The
letter from the Minister of Agriculture can be the starting point. It says “The
Australian Government is committed to ensuring that all food products sold in
Australia are safe and are clearly and accurately labeled so that consumers can
make informed choices about the safety and nutritional quality of the food they
buy. All food sold in Australia, whether imported or produced domestically,
must meet the safety and labeling requirements set out in the Australia New
Zealand Standards Code.”
There
is also a long paragraph which looks to me like a lot of bureaucratic weasel words
including what they feel Australian Made means. Starting from to-morrow
I hope that farmers will start to read the letter and decide if they agree with
the minister. If they do not they should ask their local member if he agrees
with the minister.
I
do not agree with him now and did not agree that the situation was correct a
few months ago when I met a nice lady distributing orange juice with Meals on Wheels.
The carton of orange juice t had a brand name of Westcliff “… a
registered name of Aldi..made from local and
imported juice.. to our stringent
quality specifications.”
A recent
article in The Land stated that of the orange juice labeled as “Australian
made” or similar contains 70 to 80%
Brazilian orange concentrate. This prompted me to send the following questions
to Aldi’s quality department:
1. From which
countries are the imported juice sourced? Please prove the data if Brazil is
not included.
2. Is any of
the concentrate from orchards affected by greening?
3. What is the
reading for carbenazim?
4. What
reading is there for other toxins?
That was
months ago with no response. I ask you or Michael to use your positions to ask
Aldi for a response.
If you and
the local member do not agree with the
minister that there is truth in
adverting on all Australian products then I suggest that you suggest that Michael should work with the farmers to
determine how the legislation needs to be changed and then each of you can take
the changes to Parliament.
Apparent Gouging by Retailers
Michael
is on record as saying that he is concerned about the big retailer’s effect on
citrus It is suggested that you or
Michael should provide the farmers with the legislation which might be aimed at
fairness and then have Michael work with the farmers to frame legislation to
overcome the problem and then each of you also present that to Parliament.
Australian Dollar
The dollar is now heading down towards 90 cents
which is good for exports. This represents only about 2% or the total so it
does not save the citrus industry
The Future of Australia
The treasurer tells us that Australia is the
envy of the Developed Countries and has moved up three places to become the12
richest country in the world. My
amateurish graph shows that Australia is the best of an underperforming group.
Australia is being left behind by the best of the BRIC countries and also the
best of the MIKT countries and even the best of the Third World – Bangladesh is
growing at more than double the rate of Australia. One of the MIKT countries –
Mexico – could pass Australia and take over the number 12 spot.
Do
you and Michael accept that unless Australia regains strength in agriculture
and manufacturing that we will move closer to the up and coming Third World?
Brian Mills
Australian Dollar
