Media Release

The Federal Government is moving too slowly for Aussie food producers that are at risk from a flood of cheap imports favoured by supermarket giants, KAP Federal Leader and Member for Kennedy Bob Katter has warned.

"SPC Ardmona pleaded with the government several months ago for emergency safeguards, but on Friday we are told that an inquiry just to consider whether temporary tariffs are even justified is not due to report to government for another three months – after the election," said Mr Katter, who has moved in Parliament for government to protect Aussie food producers being decimated by an uneven global playing field and our successive governments' free trade sycophancy.

Mr Katter’s motion was put to the Parliament but yet to be listed for debate prior to the government’s announcement of an inquiry on Friday. The motion calls on the government to endorse the emergency tariffs, as permitted by World Trade Organization rules, on cheap foreign imports which are threatening the viability of food producers such as SPC Ardmona.
"Of the two other major processors who account for most of our processing, one has made similar noises whilst the other has opened a huge plant in New Zealand. So we're running into a situation where, next year, it may well be that almost everything you buy in a plastic bag and on shelves will come from overseas," warned Mr Katter.

"The competitiveness of Aussie food producers is already badly handicapped by our artificially-inflated Australian dollar, which makes it up to 60 per cent cheaper to import foreign produce at the expense of Australian jobs and industry.

"Now they're at risk of an untrammelled supermarket oligopoly, with imports of foreign fruit for their cheaper private label 'home brands' having seen their market share of domestic packaged fruit increase to a reported 58 per cent, whilst SPCA's market share has shrunk to just 33 per cent.

"Let every Australian understand – SPCA is the not just our country's last fruit processor; it is also the Goulbourn Valley’s biggest private employer, injecting some $63 million into the local economy through almost 900 direct full-time staff and supporting a further 2700 jobs, including the training of young apprentices."

But it was not just these direct jobs and apprenticeships at risk from a potential collapse of SPCA, Mr Katter warned, with SPCA utilising products from more than 200 contract growers and having bought from them some 150,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables worth $32 million.

"The collapse of SPCA would lead to even more farmers being forced to leave their good quality, home-grown fruit go to rot on the ground," said Mr Katter.