Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise again in this place to talk about country of origin labelling. One of the first debates I contributed to in this place was on a bill that Senator Bob Brown put before the parliament on the same issue: country of origin labelling. It is absolutely essential that Australians are able to make an informed choice on the products they are buying. There has been no better example than the debacle over berries over the last week or two of why people need to be able to make an informed choice. The contamination of berries issue has served to highlight, yet again, the inadequacies of our food regulatory system. Not only did the food authorities here know of the hepatitis A contamination in America and Europe; they did not take any action over here. There was no thought that we had to improve our regulatory processes here.

Australians were last week shocked to hear that 29 further importers were bringing in Chinese berries. They are not from the same food-processing centres—I acknowledge that—but we found out during estimates that those other processing centres have not been inspected. Food Standards Australia New Zealand is carrying out further risk assessment, but that will take 'some weeks'. The officials were not able to tell us when that risk assessment will be done. Have our regulatory bodies increased the level of assessment of berries as they are coming in as a result of the fact that we have had a contamination and 19 people now—another case emerged on Friday—have been infected with hepatitis A? No, they have not. Australians need to be able to read the labelling on the packages of the food that they are buying so they can make an informed choice. Where have these berries come from? Have they been imported? If so, where from? Have they been grown in Australia? Have the manufactured products that contain berries been manufactured with products grown in Australia or products grown overseas?

As has been articulated during this debate, the food-labelling bill could improve the trust between producers and consumers. It would make consumers more confident of what they are buying by simply reading the package. They would know whether it is grown in Australia, manufactured in Australia or simply processed in Australia. Until Australians can be absolutely confident of what they are buying, there is a sense of concern and mistrust about the safety of the food they are buying. Until our regulatory processes and the government can guarantee that they have done everything they can to ensure the safety of our food, people will be distrustful of what they are buying and what is outlined on the package of the goods they are buying.

Our food safety system in Australia needs some significant work before Australians can be very confident that the food they are buying is actually safe to consume. One of the key ways to do that is country-of-origin labelling. There is now a bill from the Greens and Senator Xenophon that is currently before this place. As has also been articulated in this place, we do not need any more inquiries or any more consultation about the fact that this bill is long overdue. Australians want it. The government does not need to consult any more: look at this bill and support this bill. They can do what they say they want to do, which is to give consumers confidence about what they are buying.