Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to support the Criminal Code Amendment (Food Contamination) Bill 2018, which has been brought into the parliament this morning. What we've seen around the country, with the contamination of fruit products with needles, is nothing short of criminal. There is no doubt about that. It is bad for producers, it is bad for retailers and, of course, it is very bad for consumers. Trust in food consumption and purchasing in this country is essential. It's essential for all of those that live in Australia and it's also essential for our export industries. As we know, farmers and agriculturalists around the country work very hard to maintain our great reputation for food production. What we have seen over the last few weeks is terrible for exporters in this country. I join with all members in this House in encouraging Australian consumers to keep buying strawberries and to keep buying all fruit. Cut it up and check it out and make sure you're safe. It's very important to keep supporting our local producers.

Earlier this morning the Leader of the Opposition mentioned the need for a food security framework in this country, and I fully support his call in this regard. The incidents we've been seeing over the past few weeks may be a good pivot point for this country to consider such a framework to ensure our agricultural and horticultural security. We have seen some terrible problems in our food security and biosecurity in this country. There was the listeria scare with rockmelons, which devastated that industry; the white spot disease in prawns; and the devastation in Tasmania with the fruit fly that arrived there. Also we've seen most recently the scourge of fake honey in this country. While swift action is taking place on strawberries and other fruit, and I'm grateful for that swift action, I really wish the same enthusiasm was applied to the emergence of fake honey in this country.

There's no doubt about it: the global scourge of food fraud, and in particular fake honey, is a global criminal activity. Interpol is investigating this because there are gangs around the world that are lacing what was honey with fake syrups, selling it and making a lot of money off consumers around the world. Those consumers think they are buying honey, but they are not. What is dangerous about this is, of course, is that not only are people not buying what they paid for but also we do not know what is in the products that are not actually honey. Is it rice syrup or is it something else? For my part, anything that is sold as Australian honey is 100 per cent honey, and I would encourage all consumers to support Australian honey makers. We know the ACCC is investigating the fake honey claims. That is a good thing, but I do think we need to do more in this regard to make sure this food fraud scandal comes to an end in this country. Whilst I'm on bees, people in this place know I'm a beekeeper myself. I'm an amateur, of course—

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