LABOR LEAVES AUSTRALIAN BANANA FARMERS OUT TO DRY

Shadow Minister for Northern Australia, Senator Susan McDonald has called on the Albanese Government to protect Australian banana farmers after the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry indicated it will review quarantine arrangements in relation to banana imports from the Philippines.

“Banana farmers warned us for decades about imported diseases, and the Coalition heeded those warnings. But now under Labor, the survival of Australian-grown bananas is in jeopardy,” she said.

“For more than three years, the Albanese Labor Government has wanted to appease international activists and put Australian farmers last.

“At a time when farmers need our support, it would be disastrous to expose Australian fruit to more biosecurity risks.

“This has been a legacy fought for by the National Party over generations and nothing has changed.

“Australian farmers grow enough bananas to feed the country, so any talk of imports is unnecessary. It is madness to expose them to new diseases which would cost the thousands of jobs they support and devastate the regional communities in which they live.”

Senator McDonald said Australia’s ability to grow enough food was under threat from Labor’s anti-farming agenda, citing a recent report by AUSVEG showing 40% of growers were considering quitting within the next 12 months.

“Exposing Australia’s banana growers to industry-ending diseases would be disastrous and would send us further down the path of food insecurity,” she said.

“Australian farmers are already groaning under increased regulations, crippling power prices and high taxes to the point they just want to give up – the last thing they need is to battle imported pests and diseases.

“Australians need to realise that this government is risking us having to import food and fibre just to feed and clothe ourselves. This is a ridiculous proposition and we should all be outraged.

“The last time Labor was in government, they entertained importing bananas and now they’re at it again.

“Our proud history of growing the highest-quality food and fibre for ourselves and our trading partners is being slowly strangled by a Labor Government that is focused on everything but Australians’ wellbeing and prosperity.”

ENDS