Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Member for Kennedy. I am sure that you are as passionate about the import of bananas as I am. You are very much an outspoken member on the issue of bananas. But we have the opportunity today for the Labor members opposite to actually support their local industry, to actually support the call that the government not permit the importation of bananas into this country.

We have the member for Leichhardt here, and I am sure that his local growers would be very keen to see our local clean, green image maintained and the potential threat from imported Filipino pests averted. Also, the member for Page, who will be speaking in this debate later, has growers in her electorate. I know that they will be very keen to see that the importation of bananas from the Philippines will not go ahead. It is vitally important that we ensure the integrity of our quarantine system and that we ensure that we have an effective quarantine system.

Despite that, the fact is that there is a risk. What we are talking about here is the fact that importation from a place where pests and diseases are as prevalent as they are in the Philippines means that it is not a question of if pests and diseases will be imported into Australia on Filipino bananas; it is just a question of when. If we allow imports from the Philippines, where there is basically every banana pest and disease known to man, it is an absolute certainty that our industry will ultimately bear the brunt of those diseases. It is an absolute certainty that these diseases will arrive on our doorstep. It is an absolute certainty that our industry will be decimated. I for one do not want to see our local banana industry decimated. I for one want to see the Rudd Labor government stand up for our local banana growers, stand up for our local industry and stand up for the fact that we need to maintain our clean, green image. The risk from Filipino banana imports is too great. It is a risk that the local Coffs Harbour and Coffs Coast banana industry cannot bear. It is a risk that the Australian banana industry cannot bear. Filipino bananas must not come into this country.

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