Media Release

Regarding the 'Far North’s banana industry reeling after Panama disease confirmation' (http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/far-norths-banana-industry-reeling-after-panama-disease-confirmation/news-story/078eb5e8ed9f72787a5be3204accad97):

My first thoughts are of course with the affected growers, their families and workers.

Now, there will be many who disagree with my statement that the Government should be moving unequivocally and unapologetically to eradicate the disease. It is an insult to my intelligence to be told that it cannot be eradicated.

We were told that with Black Sigatoka, that it absolutely could not be eradicated. The Australian Banana Growers' Council took a very aggressive position that we should do everything humanly possible to eradicate Black Sigatoka – and we did.

I am already in contact with the major players in the industry, as well as the new banana growers’ executive. The strategic approach of eradication deals realistically with the cost of quarantining, which quite frankly is going to cripple the greater Tully region.

I have been down this pathway on numerous occasions, and it is public servants creating jobs for themselves and saving money – not the survival of the banana industry and the greater Tully region – as the driving motivation here.

Let me be quite clear on this, if an area converts from banana growing to sugar growing, it will cut wage incomes almost tenfold. The greater Tully community will take the full brunt of this economic disaster.

Now, I have held my counsel up to date, but I’m not going to be quiet from here on. There needs to be a much more aggressive approach used by farmers if we are to survive in agriculture in Australia.