Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I come into this place today bearing no fruit. I had some fruit with me last week in the House of Representatives. That speech was to try and make everyone understand what it takes to grow a piece of fruit—and the fact that it's healthy and it's very important for our community. But it takes government policy to assist with that, and I was critical of some of the policies of the Labor government. But what I've seen is an overwhelming response saying that young people don't understand where our food comes from, and that is a great tragedy.

It is with great pleasure that I say that a good friend of mine, who runs an organisation called VEG Education, Catherine Velisha—who is a broccoli and lettuce grower from Werribee but has also grown vegetables in my electorate—is contributing to the Australian Food Education Conference this Thursday. They're going to come together to help horticultural and agricultural teachers to promote where food comes from and what it takes to grow it, and to encourage young people to be involved in these industries. What could be more important than ensuring that all people in Australia have access to healthy, Australian, clean fruit and vegetables? It takes policy, it takes educating young people and it takes the sort of passion that Catherine has for growing, in her case, broccoli.

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