John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

On the question of food labelling, questions on notice from the Senate agriculture committee budget estimates reveal that hundreds of jobs are being lost because of the failure of the current Rudd government to deliver on its promise to clarify country of origin labelling requirements. The figures show that in just a three-month period Australia imported over 290,000 kilograms of home brand peanut butter, peanuts and beer nuts from China. All up, from February to May 2009, 994,635—almost a million—kilograms of nuts, mostly peanuts and peanut butter, were imported from China alone. In the same period, almost half a million kilograms—454,706 kilograms—of prawns and shrimp were imported from China. I find it incredible that Australia, the home of Kingaroy, cannot produce its own peanut butter.

A recent media report stated that food imports will reach a record $8.5 billion in 2008-09, raising fears that Australia is sacrificing economic growth, jobs and food security and threatening food safety. The food industry fears that as consumers buy more home brand products the level of imports will continue to rise. Fruit and vegetables top the list of import categories at $1.7 billion in 2008-09, followed by seafood at $1.3 billion; coffee, tea, cocoa and spices at $1.2 billion; cereals at $800 million; dairy at $600 million; and meat at $575 million. Australia’s food-manufacturing sector was the largest manufacturing sector left in Australia, employing over a quarter of a million people, over half of whom are based in regional areas. Without support, there is a danger of their jobs going the same way as our clothing and manufacturing sector.

The Rudd government promised to end the confusion surrounding food labelling by clarifying country of origin labelling requirements. The Labor Party’s pre-election policy stated:

A Rudd Labor Government will simplify and strengthen food labelling laws. This will include:

• A new ‘Grown in Australia’ label under the Trade Practices Act for products that are not only made in Australia, but also grown in Australia.
• Working with the organic food sector to develop a National Standard for Organic Produce with an agreed labelling and certification system for Australian produce.
• Consideration of amendments to the Food Standards Code to clarify country of origin labelling requirements.
• Strengthening compliance arrangements.

It is a disgrace that in the midst of the financial crisis this government has racked up billions of dollars of debt stimulating the economy but Australians still do not have a clue about where their food is being grown and manufactured. The failure of the Rudd government and the Labor Party to deliver on their pre-election promises is becoming more apparent by the day.

You only have to look at Coles and Woolworths. We all know how they will only buy Australian! They will only buy from where they will make their best quid; don’t worry about that. Let me tell you something. If the ETS and CPRS legislation moved in the House today comes into force, it will make our food even less competitive against the Chinese produce, for example, that Coles and Woolworths are increasingly using to stock their shelves. So I think this issue of food labelling is extraordinarily important, and we should be looking at it from the point of view of where the produce concerned is grown, not so much where it is labelled. Assuming it is done under proper circumstances, the issue is where it is grown. We all know how certain companies can use the laws to say it was packaged here or had Australian content because it was put together here, but the real issue is: where the heck was it grown? I believe that, until we get laws that reflect whether it was grown or produced in Australia rather than where it was packaged, canned or processed, we are always going to have this problem and we are always going to have Australian consumers who are subject to selling by stealth, as it were.

See this speech in context