Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the great things about Australia—indeed, one of our great strengths—is our food production, and the quality and reliability of Australian food production is well known across the world. Australian food is known for being fresh, for being safe, for being delicious and for being grown in environmentally sound and sustainable ways. And that is why what we've seen over the last few days, with the 100 incidents of tampering in relation to strawberries, strikes at the very heart of what people think of when they think of Australia and its clean, safe, fresh, delicious food production. It's for that reason that we're introducing this legislation: to protect farmers, to protect families and to protect consumers generally, and to take action, decisive action, at this time.

I'm very lucky in my electorate to have a number of strawberry growers. I have to say those growers are fearful of being targeted next. They're fearful about what will happen if they lose their crop, because they rely on a seasonal business, which is strawberry farming, and, if they don't make sales in the farming season, that's it for their income for the year. We're at a time in Australian history where the drought is ravaging, and farming is a tough business. To have people going out and deliberately attacking our food production processes, our food products—our safe, clean, fresh, delicious strawberries—is an attack of extraordinary vandalism. That's why this tough action is needed. That's why what we're doing here is so important.

This weekend I'm going to go to the stores and do as I do every weekend, and I will be buying some strawberries. I'm going to wash them, cut them up and give them to my family. I say to everyone else in Berowra: this weekend, do your patriotic duty. Go and buy strawberries, because they are fresh, delicious and safe to eat if you wash them and cut them up. That's what every Australian should be feeling at all times.

I want to respond to some of the things that the Greens have said today in their presentation on this bill, the Criminal Code Amendment (Food Contamination) Bill 2018, because I think they deserve some response. The member for Melbourne said that no identified gap in the law has been pointed out here indicating a need for a change. It's true that there are existing offences, but the fact that there are 100 incidents in Australia shows that the existing offences and the existing penalties are not adequate deterrents. That's why it's important for us to increase the penalties here from 10 years to 15 years. It's also important to create these new offences of recklessness—recklessness as to whether the conduct here causes public alarm or anxiety or economic loss or creates a risk of causing harm to public health in Australia. This does have national security implications. If we do not look after our food production, if we do not back one of our key strengths and if people are free to interfere with our food supply, it puts the whole nation at risk. That's why this bill is so important.

I couldn't believe that I heard from the Greens today the idea that tampering with food or food production in some instances could be a form of legitimate protest. I cannot think of any instance where it is legitimate to tamper with the food production or food supply of this country. Not only are you putting the producers at risk, not only are you putting thousands of Australians' livelihoods at risk, including people in my electorate, but you are putting the very safety of ordinary mums and dads and families at risk. That's why this bill is so important. That's why I urge the House to pass it in this form.

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