Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

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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