Media Release

Federal KAP Leader and Member for Kennedy Bob Katter today called for Government compensation to support any farmers affected by Panama disease following the announcement by Biosecurity Queensland of a second positive test for Panama disease tropical race 4 on a commercial banana farm, near Mareeba.

“There must be full compensation paid to every banana grower infected with this disease. People won’t come forward and identify disease if they are threatened with bankruptcy if they do,” Mr Katter said.

“We want compensation, confinement and eradication.

“I think that the disease has taken us by surprise. People have not been sure how to handle this, that includes people in the industry as well as the Government.

“The industry is formulating policy and I will be briefed today on that strategy, but I will put very strongly to the industry that there has to be a very serious Government contribution to the cost structures that are going to be imposed.

“Unless that is done, a lot of growers will simply not conform and all the Inspectors in the world are not going to help.

“It is not the growers’ fault, it is the Federal Government’s fault for allowing in s457 workers as there is no doubt in my mind that this is how the disease has started.

“Their free trade policies allow any and every plant product from overseas into Australia and they’re destroying industry after industry by imported pests and diseases. It appears to be ok that your free trade policy prevails to the detriment of local industry.”

Mr Katter said that he’d be moving for a global insurance scheme for agriculture to provide compensation in situations like the present.

“At the date of this press release there has still been no effort to make any contribution to the farmer who suffered this terrible outbreak through absolutely no fault of his own.

“I hold a very strong but very minority opinion that the disease needs to be eradicated. I won’t be told that it can’t be – respective Governments seem to be happy to poison the entire Great Artesian Basin with CSG fracking – and yet hesitate to put a tiny bit of poison on a tiny little area to eradicate this disease.

“A tiny bit of outlay by the Government today will show great returns to what is the biggest supermarket generic food item in Australia,” Mr Katter said.