Gillard and NZ apples

Australia apple producers must feel that their days are numbered after Julia Gillard announced in the New Zealand parliament that Australia will import NZ apples. Even the current stop clock on the importation due to concerns about Fire Blight did not stop her as she spruiked to overjoyed NZ parliamentarians that we would do as we are told by the WTO and let the apples in.

Australia has long promoted the fact that we produce the planets cleanest quality produce. This is very true and the majority of this is exported for the benefit of overseas consumers. In its place an ever growing tide of imported produce is brought in for local consumers. There lies the problem. Like New Zealand apples a lot of this food is not up to Australian standard. As a result of all the major parties signing the GATS agreement and their constant and unrelenting support of free trade Australians will have to settle for inferior products to facilitate our international trade.

Even our bio-security has been politicised and as a result too much is let slip through the once rigorous safeguards for the community. New Zealand apples confirm this. To control the Fire Bligh NZ apples are injected by antibiotics. Antibiotics in our food are a recipe for disaster as has been shown in India with the formation of a new raft of superbugs that cannot be controlled with our current range of drugs.

Add to this imported food from China. Many Chinese will not even eat their own produce as there have been thousands of cases of poisoning and even deaths from eating their food. We have had reports of prawns being harvested in sewerage and poisons and toxins found in numerous imported products. Another example of dangerous imports is American beef. This too is on a hold due to concerns of carrying Mad Cow disease yet One Nation believes it is only a matter of time before it enters our country in raw form as the WTO dictates it. We already import beef product from the US in canned foods.

One Nation calls for the GATS agreement to be scrapped and Bio-security Australia to be overhauled. We would like to see our country be responsible for our own trade decisions and look after the interests of Australian producers and consumers instead of selling them out in the name of free trade and globalisation. One Nation is against FREE TRADE as it stands, we will however actively pursue FAIR TRADE deals that first benefit and protect our own Industries and protect our clean produce from diseases afflicting imports from other Nations. This then will create demand for our produce and give us a strong bargaining position.