Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the past two years or so Australian potato growers have raised concerns with the government about the push by the New Zealand government to lift the ban which has been in place since 1988 on the import of New Zealand potatoes into Australia. The concerns relate to the risks of bringing into Australia diseases and pests which have been detected in New Zealand potatoes but which to date the Australian potato industry is free from. Of particular concern is the psyllid insect, which was first detected in New Zealand in around 2008. Since that time, according to one report, New Zealand potato growers have suffered crop losses of up to 60 per cent from the bacteria.

Commonly referred to as zebra chip, because the potato flesh becomes striped, the disease means the potato becomes unsellable. Of major concern is that to date there is no effective treatment available to control or rid crops of the zebra chip disease once infestation occurs. This is a very real concern to potato growers in my home state of South Australia, where the potato industry is estimated to have a farm gate production value of about $206 million and produces 80 per cent of the nation's fresh washed potatoes.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has developed a draft set of conditions under which the New Zealand potatoes could be imported into Australia. The conditions were the subject of a public consultation process, which I believe ended on 3 September—this month. Australian potato growers are understandably concerned that the ban will be lifted and that the discussion paper is really about the conditions under which that occurs.

There are several concerns which I raise about this process and the issue more broadly. Firstly, the Australian potato industry is very much dependent on Australia's disease-free image. It is a marketing advantage which has enabled the Australian industry to survive, albeit with difficulty, throughout some very tough times. The loss of the disease free advantage would destroy the industry, even without factoring in the additional losses caused by infestation. Secondly, once the disease or pest enters Australia the damage is irreversible. Thirdly, I suspect that the push to import New Zealand potatoes is purely profit driven by industry sectors who have no interest in where potatoes are sourced from or any possible long-term damage to the local industry.

Fourthly, the import conditions and procedures, listed in the public discussion document, highlight the extraordinary precautions importers must take. That in my view is an admission of the serious risk that is being contemplated and that must be managed. Furthermore, the listing of so many conditions simply raises the likelihood of failure. Either through inadvertency, human error or by deliberately ignoring conditions, it will only be a matter of time before a condition is breached and the disease gets into Australia. Nor is it reasonable to expect that all conditions will be properly policed in all stages at all times.

There is no need and no pressing justification for allowing the Australian potato industry and the livelihoods of growers to be placed at any risk, let alone such a serious risk. In fact it should be standard practice that food products are not imported from known risk source countries. I understand that recently, due to similar concerns about zebra chip, the South Korean government banned the importation of potatoes from the US. I also note that a live psyllid was found at the Crewe Place AQIS facility in New South Wales last year in a consignment of tomatoes from New Zealand during inspection. Whilst the biosecurity measures appear to have worked in this case, the incident shows that concerns are justified and that precautions are not infallible.

Three years ago the Australian government made a difficult and controversial decision to continue the ban on beef imports from the USA because of the presence of mad cow disease in US cattle, even though at the time we were told that the proposed biosecurity procedures would ensure that any meat imported would present no risk. The decision to continue the ban proved to be the right course of action, as I believe that mad cow disease continues to be detected in US cattle.

In a similar vein, the cautious approach of today's decision to strengthen existing legislation relating to the issuing of fishing licences is also the right decision. We should not put at risk the livelihood of Australians, and the guiding principle to all these matters should be very simple: if any risk whatsoever arises then approval should not be granted. I have today written to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry about this matter and I urge his department to listen to the Australian potato growers and reject the application to have unprocessed New Zealand potatoes imported into Australia.