Media Release

KAP Leader and Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter today wrote to the Prime Minister pleading for her urgent intervention in granting SPC Ardmona’s request for emergency temporary tariffs to protect Australia’s fruit processor from cheap imported produce.

“Without this support, it is likely that SPC Ardmona will shut its doors; ‘ta-ta’ to another iconic Australian brand and all its Aussie jobs that go with it,” said Mr Katter.

The call for action comes as Mr Katter attends a community rally in Shepparton to support the local food processing industry and the communities who rely on it as they battle against the high Australian dollar and cheap foreign produce flooding the market.

Mr Katter said that Australians have been horrified the recent string of iconic Australian food processors “topple like dominos” as the supermarket giants capitalise on the record high Australian dollar to buy cheap foreign produce at the expense of Aussie jobs and industry.

“Australian producers cannot compete when the high Australian dollar makes it 60 per cent cheaper to import foreign product,” Mr Katter said.

“It would be common decency for any government to protect its people from serious injury, caused by increased imports, and impose temporary tariffs.

“There is an exponential collapse of our food processors while our farmers are being forced to let their fruit rot on the ground but the Government still has not directly responded to SPC Ardmona’s month-old request for the temporary emergency safeguards,” said Mr Katter.

The flood of cheap foreign fruit has seen SPC market share of canned fruit in Australia had dropped to 33 per cent while the supermarkets’ imported “private label” products had grown to 58 per cent.

“It’s not ‘free trade’ when Australians are not competing on a level playing field. We pay 20 per cent tariffs to export to China while being unable to compete domestically because the high AUD has facilitated a flood of overseas produce.

“Free trade is a ‘free kick’ for our foreigner competitors and a ‘kick in the guts’ for Australians.

“We have pleaded with the Prime Minister not to underestimate the deep concern of the Australian people over figures that show that food imports have soared to $11.5 billion a year, up from $8.5 billion in 2008-09,” said Mr Katter.

Mr Katter is introducing laws to reduce the supermarket giants’ massive market share and mandate warning labels on foreign produce which can be harm health if not grown to Australia’s health and hygiene standards.