Pineapple and banana growers fear foreign fruit imports would decimate farmers already under intense pressure, despite assurances they won\u2019t be on Aussie shelves anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Under Australia\u2019s free trade agreements, which requires formal requests be considered, there are currently six fruit applications undergoing a Biosecurity Import Risk Analysis or standard review \u2013 Filipino bananas, Taiwanese guava, Chinese kiwifruit, Japanese stone fruit, and pineapples from India and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The department has no deadline, and the government says even if there is a green light for any of them, imports would be immediately stopped if there was a biosecurity breach like a recent shipment of Vietnamese pomelos.<\/p>\n
But banana and pineapple growers aren\u2019t confident, and fear their industries would be exposed to massive biosecurity and disease risks if the foreign fruits were allowed in.<\/p>\n
William Oakes, a fourth generation Queensland pineapple grower with an annual output of 1.2m pines a year, said the prospect of imports was a real concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur profitability is already being depressed by all the rising costs at the moment, and if we were to have a serious incursion of a pest \u2013 I don\u2019t know if industry\u2019s got the tools to fight back and keep going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a competitive domestic market that is perfectly sustainable, and perfectly capable of supplying Australia\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
“We just want to make sure that we get a fair go.<\/p>\n
“That any imports have practical conditions put forward that make sure that our biosecurity is protected and our livelihoods.\u201d<\/p>\n
Queensland banana grower Paul Inderbitzin said given the \u201cextreme\u201d risk of disease coming into the country, \u201cwhy would we want to jeopardise our industry for not much gain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we have the capacity to execute any responses to incursions incredibly well \u2026 we need to stop things before they get here. Don\u2019t just let them in for the sake of trade. The numbers don\u2019t stack up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe easiest, cheapest and most cost effective thing to do here is to not put the industry at risk just for a little bit of trade.\u201d<\/p>\n
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said she would \u201calways proudly back Australia and our world-class produce\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Albanese government will never compromise on biosecurity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia is a proud, two-way trading nation and Queensland farmers and producers benefit greatly from this.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last financial year alone Queensland farmers exported more than $17 billion of agriculture and food products.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott Kompo-Harms, chief executive of Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers, said farmers were being battered from all sides and couldn\u2019t afford anything going wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been very tough. We\u2019ve seen compounding pressures from increased fuel and transport costs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
“Now we\u2019re seeing it be harder for growers to get labour during seasonal peak periods, and all of these cost increases are just really smashing their margins.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greatest tragedy that would come out of this crisis, where we\u2019re relying more on imported fuel and fertiliser, is if we have a food system that is more reliant on imports as well.<\/p>\n
“That would be bad for our national security, for our food security, and for consumers in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘There is good reason for that extra cost’<\/p>\n
At Dan and Dora Camilleri\u2019s 100 per cent grass-fed beef and lamb farm, nothing is wasted.<\/p>\n
The savvy first-generation farmers \u2014 who upped sticks from Sydney 10 years ago to follow their farm-to-table rural dream \u2014 deliver their organic produce direct to customers nationwide.<\/p>\n
Their sustainable nose to tail method means that all cuts of their clean, chemical-free meat are used, a philosophy that is close to their hearts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a way of honouring the animal\u2019s life to use the whole animal and respect the whole animal for what it gave us,\u201d Ms Camilleri, whose farm is at Crookwell, in the NSW Southern Tablelands, said.<\/p>\n
Mr Camilleri said it was vital for consumers to back Australian farmers, even if it meant paying a little bit extra.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t back our farmers producing some of the best quality produce in this world, those farmers are going to fall by the wayside and just get eaten up by these cheap imported products that really are an inferior product to what we can produce in this country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may be paying a little more by buying direct from a farmer. There\u2019s good reason for that extra cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not only the quality that you\u2019re getting, just using us as an example, we are in a small rural community and we\u2019re employing 10 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s 10 people that have a job in our local community that can go and spend money throughout that community and that helps the whole community ultimately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to keep this country moving in all aspects \u2026 we need to do more in Australia and support Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Back Australia series is supported by Harvey Norman, Ampol, Bunnings, Qantas, AAMI, Journey Beyond, Gippsland Critical Minerals and News24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pineapple and banana growers fear foreign fruit imports would decimate farmers already under intense pressure, despite assurances they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":952010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[463257,518825,518810,382445,442154,518823,365771,518821,518827,518852,518870,410846,518846,518822,498393,379096,380489,518796,518862,491150,518797,518803,518865,518835,376637,376925,518793,361864,518795,382508,518828,518830,376532,518869,518854,518829,233992,64,518855,63,13744,77735,518820,9326,518799,518818,518790,11387,512,518801,30164,518864,51521,518813,8112,52444,75,20666,61831,514382,518868,518853,323858,14942,518800,482,518811,467225,94066,170887,518858,18466,518849,145685,1209,518832,4805,1695,377287,941,518859,13468,518847,518871,518805,518873,518839,518831,518807,518833,514362,518836,514366,518794,425681,518834,436075,518842,518824,20246,518863,518866,170724,518841,297989,518850,518860,518815,1294,128,518867,518788,518840,381805,518856,514371,670,518845,518808,518806,518844,514364,378344,392431,518809,387670,313300,389955,518817,518826,518814,23023,518816,376932,495839,382980,225862,474851,386464,384823,385422,392489,518872,402052,518792,518819,518789,518874,477456,518802,518804,518843,518857,518791,518848,377115,480551,401674,518861,576,518798,518812,518851,518838,518837],"class_list":["post-952009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-mr-camilleri","tag-s-100","tag-s-free-trade-agreements","tag-s-life","tag-s-needs","tag-1-2m-pines","tag-10-years","tag-a-biosecurity-breach","tag-a-biosecurity-import-risk-analysis","tag-a-competitive-domestic-market","tag-a-fair-go","tag-a-farmer","tag-a-food-system","tag-a-fourth-generation-queensland-pineapple-grower","tag-a-green-light","tag-a-little","tag-a-little-bit","tag-a-massive-biosecurity-risk","tag-a-pest","tag-a-philosophy","tag-a-proud","tag-a-real-concern","tag-a-recent-shipment","tag-a-serious-incursion","tag-a-way","tag-a-year","tag-agriculture-and-food-products","tag-agriculture-minister-julie-collins","tag-all-cuts","tag-all-sides","tag-all-the-rising-costs","tag-an-annual-output","tag-an-example","tag-an-inferior-product","tag-any-imports","tag-any-responses","tag-assurances","tag-au","tag-aussie-shelves","tag-australia","tag-australian-farmers","tag-banana","tag-banana-and-pineapple-growers","tag-biosecurity","tag-cent-grass-fed-beef","tag-cheapest-and-most-cost-effective-thing","tag-chemical-free-meat","tag-chief-executive","tag-china","tag-chinese-kiwifruit","tag-consumers","tag-crookwell","tag-customers","tag-dan-and-dora-camilleri","tag-disease","tag-disease-risk","tag-environment","tag-farmers","tag-filipino","tag-foreign-fruit-imports","tag-foreign-fruits","tag-foreign-produce-imports","tag-formal-requests","tag-fruit","tag-fruit-farmers","tag-general-news","tag-getty-queensland-banana-grower-paul-inderbitzin","tag-good-reason","tag-growers","tag-guava","tag-imported-fuel-and-fertiliser","tag-imports","tag-increased-fuel-and-transport-costs","tag-incursions","tag-india","tag-india-and-indonesia","tag-indonesia","tag-industry","tag-intense-pressure","tag-japan","tag-japanese-stone-fruit","tag-labour","tag-lamb-farm","tag-livelihood","tag-massive-biosecurity","tag-massive-biosecurity-and-disease-risks","tag-massive-biosecurity-risk-and-damage","tag-more-than-17-billion","tag-ms-camilleri","tag-no-deadline","tag-not-much-gain","tag-our-biosecurity","tag-our-farmers","tag-our-food-security","tag-our-industry","tag-our-livelihoods","tag-our-national-security","tag-our-profitability","tag-our-world-class-produce","tag-picture","tag-pinapple","tag-pineapple-and-banana-growers","tag-pineapples","tag-practical-conditions","tag-pressures","tag-queensland-farmers","tag-queensland-farmers-and-producers","tag-queensland-fruit-and","tag-risk","tag-science","tag-scott-kompo-harms","tag-seasonal-peak-periods","tag-six-fruit-applications","tag-snapp-breaking","tag-standard-review-filipino-bananas","tag-support-australia","tag-sydney","tag-tail-method","tag-taiwane","tag-taiwanese-guava","tag-that-extra-cost","tag-the-extreme-risk","tag-the-albanese-government","tag-the-animal","tag-the-best-quality-produce","tag-the-capacity","tag-the-country","tag-the-department","tag-the-easiest","tag-the-foreign-fruits","tag-the-fruits","tag-the-government","tag-the-greatest-tragedy","tag-the-industry","tag-the-last-financial-year","tag-the-long-run","tag-the-moment","tag-the-nsw-southern-tablelands","tag-the-numbers","tag-the-prospect","tag-the-quality","tag-the-sake","tag-the-savvy-first-generation-farmers","tag-the-tools","tag-the-wayside","tag-the-whole-animal","tag-their-clean","tag-their-farm-to-table-rural-dream","tag-their-hearts","tag-their-industries","tag-their-margins","tag-their-organic-produce","tag-their-sustainable-nose","tag-these-cheap-imported-products","tag-these-cost-increases","tag-this-country","tag-this-crisis","tag-this-world","tag-those-farmers","tag-trade","tag-two-way-trading-nation","tag-vegetable-growers","tag-vietnamese-pomelos","tag-whose-farm","tag-william-oakes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}