Prev
Next

Kiwis and apples: Something is rotten at the core

Malcolm Farr

by Malcolm Farr

26 May 05:55am

Must Reads

We don’t deserve this huge, exciting scientific project - this is a caption

We don’t deserve this huge, exciting scientific project

41

Mining money talks the loudest in Australian politics - this is a caption

Mining money talks the loudest in Australian politics

60

Please enter your password - this is a caption

Please enter your password

39

Filed under: Apples, Economy, Food, Fruit, Industry, New Zealand

77 comments

A delegation of Australian MPs has been given permission to inspect the New Zealand apple industry - as long as they don’t go near any apple trees.

Apples in pairs. Photo: Kristi Miller

Instead, they have been invited to tour New Zealand dairy farms, according to the chairman of a parliamentary committee.

The restrictions are the latest flare-up in the battle over fire blight, an agricultural disease which could destroy entire orchards.

The broader issue is the relatively pristine state of our food supply chain. We have avoided many of the diseases and mutations which plague agriculture in other nations. It’s a position of privilege which could be worth billions in a global market hungry for safe food.

Australia is resisting demands from free-trade forces to allow the importation of NZ apples, arguing fire blight has appeared there but has not been reported in orchards here. The issue is bio-security.

The Kiwi fruit front is just one of several on which Australia’s farmers are fighting as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) applies pressure for the removal of all types of import barriers, including those related to crop and animal disease prevention.

The issue is particularly acute with New Zealand because of the Closer Economic Relations agreement we have which in most cases means we operate a joint, open market.

Liberal senator Bill Heffernan chairs a rural affairs committee and told The Punch a delegation of committee members wanted to satisfy themselves that Australian apples would not be endangered by disease which might be carried by NZ apples. They wanted to do this first-hand in a visit across the Tasman.

However, a May 10 email from an Australian official, relaying a message from NZ officials, ruled that out, even though the visit still could go ahead.

“While approaches have been made to representatives of apple growers for meetings and site visits, I have been advised that the apple growers’ representatives are not prepared to meet with the committee or arrange site visits to apple growing areas,’’ wrote the director, International and Community Relations Office.

And it was made clear that senators should not think they could simply wander off by themselves and without an official guide.

The email pointed out “the New Zealand Parliament has advised that it is not in a position to organise meetings or activities outside of the official program. In this regard it is usual practice for only the official program to be arranged by the host parliament”.

Senator Heffernan said the official program included inspections of dairy farms and consultations with NZ bureaucrats:

“We applied to have a look at their farm management practices,” he said.

“And both the apple growers and their representatives told the New Zealand Government who told our people they wouldn’t allow us to do that. But they included in the schedule a visit to dairy farms and the dairy processing. But not apples.”

He said: “The danger for us is that the power of the trade lobby is continually putting pressure on places like Australia, which has the cleanest and greenest agricultural credentials in the world, to lower our standards to make it more convenient for countries that have got incursions of all sorts of diseases, in this case fire blight.

“What we’re saying is we have a competitive edge in the market and we want to maintain that status.”

In broad terms it’s a bipartisan matter, although you wouldn’t know it from the to-and-fro between Senator Heffernan and Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig.

Senator Ludwig said the Government wanted to protect “Australia’s unique biosecurity status” and the trade advantage it provided:

Just as for any other product, trade in New Zealand apples under new conditions will not occur until quarantine measures that appropriately protect Australia and our agricultural producers have been determined. A spokesperson for the New Zealand agriculture Minister David Carter has refuted the claim from Senator Heffernan and says the minister intends on meeting with the committee as planned.

The itinerary for the visit is something that the committee needs to work through with the New Zealand Government and apple growers. Senator Heffernan and some of his Senate colleagues used Senate Estimates to whip up fear and spread misinformation about Australia’s quarantine arrangements. They are more stunt than substance. The Liberals and the Greens are incapable of serious national policy debate about Australia’s biosecurity system.

Any revisions to Australia’s import conditions for New Zealand apples will provide for AQIS (quarantine)  inspectors to inspect fruit at the border and conduct regular audits of export facilities to ensure import conditions are being met by exporters.

Most commented

431Australia, you have nothing to fear but fear itself
390There's no one Thomson won't burn to save his skin
336Animal experiments won't cure me from cancer
313Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking
266Who murdered the Arts degree?
246A big day for Thomson, who thus far is guilty of nothing...
231South Australia. It's the middle bottom bit.
231Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...

77 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      06:12am | 26/05/11

      Junk the CER and immigration arrangements with New Zealand. New Zealand is just a freeloader upon Australia.

      Reply

    • Phil says:

      07:42am | 26/05/11

      Shame that most the Kiwi’s I know who live here (myself included) seem to work harder and more efficently than most Australians here.
      There seems to be a preciousness with Australians about New Zealanders, if you’re concerned about “freeloaders” immigrating to Australia id suggest you point your issues more towards Asia and India.
      More of them here than Kiwis! And we dont bring dozens of family with us either!!

      Back on topic, As nice as NZ apples are if AU wants to continue to prevent importation based on bio-security thats ok with me, it happens the other countries but in doing so you continue to provide a reduced range of product to locals in AU which can be quite frustrating & will also give freedom for the price to be what they see fit.

    • Stephen says:

      12:39pm | 26/05/11

      Great, not only is Phil a freeloading Kiwi, he’s racist as well. Thanks but no thanks Phil, we don’t mind really mind Kiwis that much, especially ones that can take a joke, but we definatly have enough racists.

    • Phil says:

      02:07pm | 26/05/11

      @Stephen,

      Its all about trying to fit in here, Seems you Aussies want it both ways :-p
      There is something to be said for immigration control, has nothing to do with being racist either!

    • Aussieoism says:

      02:14pm | 26/05/11

      I want bananas!!!
      But the protected few that grow them here plead the same sort of heiferdust that the poor ‘lil apple growers do. Rooination!!
      Meanwhile, back at the Supermarket what are those things from China?

    • Frank says:

      03:20pm | 26/05/11

      My problem is not with actual New Zealanders, but the South Pacific detritus that she grants citizenship to ....

    • DaveinPerth says:

      11:14pm | 26/05/11

      Kiwi’s are great. They keep our scaffold industry running. Their diseased apples have no place in Australia. Let the NZ govt put up a $500million bond guaranteeing no fireblight affected product will be shipped. That’ll sort em out quick smart.

    • Paul 2.0 says:

      09:07am | 18/08/11

      Australia sends $8 billion worth of Aussie crap to NZ, Shane, and the reason you’ll take our Applies and like them is that if you don’t, you’ll not get your $8 billion.  Do us Kiwis a big favour and junk CER, take your thieving banks, crap retail stores back home and we’ll also have our English speaking Doctors, Teachers and Engineers back please, you can get yours from India and Sri Lanka in future.  NZ has everything it needs, you can deal with the Chinese. Make your move.

    • Edward James says:

      06:52am | 26/05/11

      What’s to talk about our mates in New Zealand have fire blight in the apple orchards. We do not need our politicians to tell us we need to risk importing it from new Zealand to Australia just to satisfy the World Trade Organisation (WTO) which is applying all sorts of pressure for the removal of all types of import barriers, including those related to crop and animal disease prevention. Perhaps if NZ had to pay the cost in advance of clearing every individual box of apples for fire blight, which comes into Australia. The extra cost of exporting their dodgy apples into a fire blight free country will make them stop pestering our weak government. We in Australia cant inspect everything which comes into Australia as it stands! I would go so far as to write we should be really vigilant of the possibility someone may infect our apples orchards with fire blight just to remove the legitimate import barrier.  Why have our governments been discussing this silliness for several years? It is like oil interest continually insisting to governments drilling off shore for oil and gas can be kept safe. Shipping interest telling the Federal government they need navigation rights to come along the cost inside the Great Barrier Reef to save money and time. Sometimes politicians saying No means no, should not be considered a invitation to keep pestering for a conditional yes. Australian apple growers and Australian who understand the potential for damage to our own export business   do not want Kiwi apples with the possibility of importing fire blight imported.  Edward James

      Reply

    • stevem says:

      10:54am | 26/05/11

      New Zealand also has fairly tight restrictions on bio-security. This has not, however, kept their kiwifruit industry safe.
      PSA disease has arrived in New Zealand and is causing panic amongst growers and seeing orchards burnt in an effort to contain the disease. It is believed that foreign kiwifruit growers visiting New Zealand orchards brought the disease with them.
      The varroa mite has caused massive damage to bees in New Zealand, almost killing off wild hives. It now seems that colony collapse disorder has arrived and is mysteriously killing off healthy hives overnight. Australia is the only place left on the planet with healthy bees.
      If there is any doubt about bio-security we MUST err on the side of safety.

    • acotrel says:

      07:29am | 26/05/11

      What AUTHORITY does the WTO have over Australia?  We are experiencing mainly the downside of free trade agreements with our manufacturing industry moving offshore, and our farmers finding the playing field is not ‘level’!  It’s probable that China would have bought our resources regardless of any FTA.  So what are we doing buggering about with this stuff?

      Reply

    • Tom says:

      08:40am | 26/05/11

      Gawd, a whole blog without the “H” word?

    • Paulb says:

      08:58am | 26/05/11

      Its because our politicians (on both sides of the divide) keep signing us up to International treaties, agreements etc that have the effect of eroding our sovereignty as a nation.  They have authority because “we” give it over to them.

    • Sony B Goode says:

      09:12am | 26/05/11

      “They have authority because “we” give it over to them. “

      Someone tell that to socialist labor, the government is supposed to work for us and not vice versa.

    • Bris Jack says:

      07:36am | 26/05/11

      Julia kicked a football around the White House and apples in the New Zealand parliament.
      It looked warm and fuzzy at the time.

      Reply

    • Kevin says:

      07:37am | 26/05/11

      Heffernan continues his crusade to uncover rotten fruits.

      Reply

    • Edward James says:

      12:19pm | 26/05/11

      I bet Michael Kirby finds that less amusing than Bill Heffernan, Kevin Ha ha Edward James

    • sir ronald bradnam says:

      08:09am | 26/05/11

      Trying to stop the importation of NZ apples is about protecting australian orchardists interests and nothing more.
      NZ apples are nicer than nearly every variety available here and are cheaper, as NZ growers are a lot more efficient at the production of agriculture products due to dropping of subsidies to farmers many years ago and they had to survive without the teat of the government to feed from(taxpayer subsidies).
      Fireblight cases have been recorded in australia so trying to ban a product that will bring in a disease that is already here doesnt really make sense.
      It is impossible to transfer fireblight from a fruit as there is not one case of this ever happening as the fruit itself doesnt carry the disease.
      Japan which has no fireblight imports NZ apples, you would think that with as much of their economy riding on tourism from cherry blossom festivals would understand there is no risk yet australia continue to try to deny access.
      NZ is now exporting apple tree seedlings/graftings to australia so the farners that use these in australia are in effect paying a subsidy to NZ for every apple they produce with these anyway, if it is OK to use these from NZ why cant fruit be imported?
      As long as Australia relies on protectionism and government handouts to farmers the longer it will be before they are truly competitive in a global economy.
      This campaign has been driven to protect ineffecient growers and to try and block a superior product.
      Australia wants to be a major exporter but on the other hand doesnt like other countries exporting to them, you cant have it both ways.

      Reply

    • Socrates of The Hills (NSW) says:

      09:50am | 26/05/11

      What a load of crap when you say NZ apples are cheaper because they are more efficient. Have a look at the exchange rate you troglodyte - $A 1.00 = $NZ 1.34. That’s the only reason they are cheaper !!!!!!!

    • peps says:

      01:35pm | 26/05/11

      I also am aware that cases of fire blight have been recorded in Australia. I’ve been looking for the original article so all of these people getting themselves into a frenetic lather (Socrates) can stick it in their pipes and smoke it. It is definitely about protectionism, why not at least have an honest conversation about it. Yet another beat up.

    • Skizziks says:

      02:18pm | 26/05/11

      Socrates old bean, old pal~ but they taste nicer!

    • Socrates of The Hills (NSW) says:

      02:20pm | 26/05/11

      @ Peps:

      No doubt NZ farmers who infiltrated Australia with the sole intention of destroying our trees. Those damn Kiwis will stoop to anything.

    • sir ronald bradnam says:

      03:03pm | 26/05/11

      No, @Sourcrates of the shrills, not crap, fact.
      lets drop all farmer subsidies and see what happens.
      The whole argument is a sham built on keeping out fireblight a disease that is already hear, you dont have to be a brain surgeon to figure out that it is political and vested interests trying to stop NZ exporting here when we export to other countries.

    • Jay Jay says:

      03:34pm | 26/05/11

      We Aussie farmers don’t mind competetion and the quality of our fruit and veg is as good as any in the world. Its just that we can’t compete with our wage structure (high minimum wage, superannuation, workers comp, etc). We do not receive any special subsidies, yet we will have to compete in the future with countries who do.
      I’d like to see your production figures before you start rabbiting on how good NZ growers are!
      And what about your NZ - China arrangement where NZ funnels Chinese produce through NZ into Australia.

    • Fairsnotfair says:

      04:52pm | 26/05/11

      Please support your accusations of farmer subsidies in Australia. As a farmer, I am unaware of any subsidy that I can claim. I have been in receipt of an exceptional circumstances interest subsidy a good many years ago and on one occasion took advantage of a loan to erect a hay shed for fodder conservation.

      But the consistent claims by The Punch bloggers that Aussie farmers are survivng because they are heavily subsidised is eroneous and offensive. Please explain yourselves before throwing unfounded accusations about.

      Australia should recognise the high quality, very inexpensive and extremely efficiently produced food we have here.

    • persephone says:

      05:57pm | 26/05/11

      Fairsnot fair

      Don’t know if you claim it, but the diesel rebate is one.

      Farmers also have access to very generous tax arrangements which aren’t available to other people - which is part of the reason so many doctor and lawyer types turn to farming.

      I live amongst farmers, who are multi millionaires, sent their kids to expensive boarding schools in the city, drive the latest and most expensive cars, and boast that they have never paid a cent in tax.

      This is because almost anything they purchase can be written off as a business expense - in a way not available to most businesses.

      And when things go bad, they have access to all sorts of government support systems. Many farmers were receiving government benefits during the drought; despite the fact that they had bugger all to do on the farm, having destocked etc, no one was demanding that THEY work for the dole.

      Meanwhile, the owners of local small businesses, similarly affected by the drought, got no assistance whatsoever.

      There’s also indirect subsidies - your phone line, in all likelihood, represents a dead loss to Telstra of tens of thousands of dollars (mine cost ten thousand to put in twenty years ago). That loss is made up from the prices other Telstra customers pay.

      Ditto your power line; it might be private across your property, but it has to get there to start with. We have 5 k of power line which supplies three homes; in the city, the same length would supply hundreds. The maitenance costs are probably about the same. Again, this is subsidised by other electricity users; we don’t pay more because less of us use the line.

      Similarly with roads. It costs about $16k a year to maintain a kilometre of road (be it dirt or bitumen). Farmers obviously have longer stretches of road per capita than those living in suburbia; it’s highly unlikely your rates cover the cost of their maitenance.

      The minute you use a service which comes to your home (such as District nursing, meals on wheels, shire inspection, whatever) the person providing that service has had to travel further then they would have for most other people.

      Again, that’s subsidised by other ratepayers.

      That said, it is true that Australian farmers are subsidised less than most other comparable nations and we can afford to do this quite easily.

      Just don’t fool yourself into believing - as so many farmers do - that you’re paying out and not receiving.

    • sir ronald bradnam says:

      06:29pm | 26/05/11

      persophone…all true and dont forget if it is a drought there is a subsidy and if it rains to much or floods then more assistance.
      I know quite a few farmers and I dont know any poor ones.

    • Tator says:

      07:07pm | 26/05/11

      Persephone,
      the diesel rebate was introduced when the feds took over the fuel excise schemes from the states.  As fuel excise was aimed as a road usage charge and the revenue was originally designed to pay for road maintenance and improvements, farmers, miners, marine use and stationary power usage was originally exempt from the excise in the state schemes to start with and the fuel excise rebate is just a continuation of this exemption.  It is not a subsidy as such as it is a rebate where they do not pay the excise thus are keeping their own money. 
      History of rebate here
      http://fueltaxinquiry.treasury.gov.au/content/backgnd/002.asp

    • Fairsnotfair says:

      01:28pm | 27/05/11

      @ Persephone. What a bitter view you must have of the world. Thank you to Tator for helping her blinkered view of farming but I doubt it will change the pig-headedness she displays.

      If you despise farmers so much, simple: stop eating. You are wrong about the majority of farmers being multi-miullionaires with luxurious lifestyles. Yes, some do send their children to private schools but at enormous cost as the challenge of travel forbids the involvement in after school activities.

      “very generous tax arrangements”? When we make an income, we pay the same rates of tax as most Australians. In the years we don’t, we don’t pay tax. Pretty simple, really. Or are you suggesting we should continue to pay tax in the years we have a drought and not only have no income, but also suffer losses from expenditure incurred?

      You state: “You live among farmers” - this must be source of great embarassment to you. Or perhaps, their excellent work ethic must cause you immeasureable discomfort. Your socialist beliefs give you away. This amounts to a severe case of jealously, where farmers have more of what you crave: good values, genuine friends and fresh air because they have earnt them. Not causally stood by and collected “what the Gov’t & the bosses” owe them.

      It is such a shame that there are so many people like you, Persephone, who suffer from the Tall Poppy Syndrome. Without this chip on the shoulder attitude, Australia would be a really great place.

    • persephone says:

      06:00pm | 27/05/11

      Oh gosh, hit a nerve, didn’t I?

      Listen, matey - you asked a question, I answered it. If you didn’t want an answer, you shouldn’t have asked the questions.

      Did I at any stage suggest farmers shouldn’t have any of these things? That they were undeserving?

      No, I just outlined a few truths, which obviously made you very uncomfortable.

      And how do I know about multimillionaires who don’t pay tax? Because they told me. Because we’re friends. Because I have friends who are farmers.

      Let’s look at a few of your reactions:

      * interesting that you didn’t mention Telstra services or the diesel rebate.

      * So your rates don’t cover the cost of your road. 3 farms to 3 kilometres is 1 k for each. The $16k is an average cost per kilometre; it doesn’t have to be spend in that one year.

      And there’s all those lovely stretches of relatively unused road which leads to your property as well.

      So your road use alone would eat up your rates easily, without you making use of any other services (and, as I said, every time a shire person has to treck out your way, that adds to the rate costs).

      Yes, assistance to small busines has increased over the past few years (for the very reasons I outlined) - don’t see much about drought there, though.

      And - as I also said - don’t know of any farmer who was asked to comply with the same requirements other beneficiaries of government payouts have to comply with.

      As for your tax whinge:

      * farmers are able to equalise their taxable income, which means that they can spread income earnt in good years over several years to make up for those times they don’t earn a taxable income. So even in a good year, they’re not necessarily paying tax.

      * farmers can write off all sorts of things normal people can’t - the family car, for example. Always interesting, round tax time here, to see how many new cars there are on the road.

      I have a nice little story about farmers and tax.

      The farm next to a friend’s came up for sale. He sat down and worked out that he could buy it and pay of the mortgage without raising a sweat within five years.

      Took this in to his bank manager, who refused to loan him the money, on the grounds that he hadn’t paid tax in the last decade, and therefore didn’t have the income to service the loan.

      Anyway, your response didn’t surprise me. Farmers like to believe that they’re benefactors, not beneficiaries (your line about food was a dead giveaway).

      You’re not farming out of the goodness of your heart, so stop talking as if the rest of us owe you something.

    • MarK says:

      08:16am | 26/05/11

      I f only the Foreign Minister could visit our near neighbours and places in the Pacific.

      Sigh.

      I guess organising wars in Libya and fighting for a job….errr seat on the Security Council in the UN takes precedent over apples.

      Reply

    • ronny says:

      08:16am | 26/05/11

      I am eating NZ apples here in PNG and I don’t like them. They are floury and lack texture. Eaten in comparison with some good Aussie grown Granny Smiths, which I also have here, there is no competition. Keep your diseased apples NZ we don’t need ‘em.
      I have also been in NZ during aerial spraying of apple crops and seen the sickened population of nearby towns complaining about being annually dosed with chemicals form the nearby apple orchards. I wouldn’t buy a kiwi apple if it was the last apple on earth, and I like apples, man

      Reply

    • Steve says:

      12:19pm | 26/05/11

      Floury apples are from prolonged cold storage prior to sale. Have you noticed that when you slice a brown onion in PNG that your eyes never water? It is because they are stale. Back here in Australia the onions make my eyes water because they are fresh. I used to prefer the local markets because everything was so fresh but I admit it lacks the varieties that one is accustomed to.In the highlands you need to like cabbage. If you are too busy to go to the market give the money to your house staff to go and buy it for you.Give her a bit extra to buy betel nut for herself.

    • Jay Jay says:

      03:37pm | 26/05/11

      Floury apples are due t poor storage conditions post harvest, usually by the shop keepers and then the purchaser who wants to put apples in a bowl on the table. They require storage at 1-4 degrees C. But I agree, why eat chemical cocktails?

    • Simon says:

      09:08am | 26/05/11

      chinese apples, rebadged nz and shipped to oz. please tell me it’s not possible .

      Reply

    • Jay Jay says:

      03:39pm | 26/05/11

      Its possible. They do this with other produce so why not apples. and because we belong to the same Food Safety Agency (ANZFSA) there’s nothing we in Australia can do about it.

    • Aussie Wazza says:

      09:09am | 26/05/11

      I am getting shat off with other countries bureaurats telling us how we can run OUR country. Stuff this FREE TRADE crap that is well on the road to ensure the demise off ALL our secondary industry and stuff any foreigners who live NOWHERE near us deciding our policies. A pox on them and their houses.

      Now WE are being told what primary products we must import even if we don’t want or need it.

      Answer them, straight up, NO! Not maybe; not we will consider. NO.

      I have just bought some U.S. cherries. I love cherries but Australian cherries are not in season. U.S. cherries are safe and now in season. I am not against imports of goods we can’t produce or are not available here.

      For those of you that don’t know, U.S.A. is in the northern hemisphere where is is getting warmer as we get cooler. (It’s called winter and summer).

      N.Z. (where I love visiting) is right beside us and enjoying the same season as us AND fruit cropping. So we have plenty of our own apples at the SAME TIME as them and so, we don’t need theirs AND those imports will effect Australian growers. Ask the TASMANIAN growers if there is space for imports.

      Leave the decisions to these arrogant Nazis in way off places who I have no doubt have little concern for Australia and I feel sure are working (manipulating) to THEIR benefit and pretty soon we will have FOOT and MOUTH, RABIES, and God knows what rampant here.

      My country; my decision.

      Any poli or bureaurat (yes, rat) who works to our detriment is a TRAITOR and should (must) be cast out and stripped of all perks.

      God save Australia; Our self centered controllers wont.

      Reply

    • ronny says:

      09:47am | 26/05/11

      Jeez Waz, You should wait til local ones are in season. Make it a treat. Seems odd that you’ll buy USA cherries just so you don’t have to wait. Especially after your rant…. before your rant I guess…

    • Nic says:

      09:58am | 26/05/11

      NZ Honours all it’s fair trade and free trade agreements with Australia. NZ is very, very good to Australia in terms of what it lets Australians bring over.

      Yet anytime there’s a market Australia can’t compete in, a market that Australians are bad at. Whether it’s Apples or whatever, these ridiculous claims come in and suddenly there’s a tarrif on them.

      This is the latest in a series of debacles, how many times has Australia tarrifed NZ Fruit before with absolutely no basis in fact, no proof and how many times have they been found out as the liars they are?

      Fireblight is no danger to Australian crops. The danger is that NZ growers are better and NZ apples are made more efficiently, because they don’t rely on stupid nanny state crutches like most Australian industries.

      Funny how it’s all take and no give with idiots like you. You’d be the first one yelling at the roof if NZ was even half as much of a bully as Australia is, nevermind the international trade agreements Australia signed, nevermind the promises made.

    • ronny says:

      10:31am | 26/05/11

      come on Nic, do you know how much of a challenge NZ is to Aus in matters of trade? None. You are lucky we allow you into our markets as generously as we do. How about some gratitude? Where is the love? The fact is NZ wants something Aus has, our money. You can scratch around out there in the Pacific on your little islands, selling us a few apples or bottles of wine but know that it is only because we like you that we throw you these bones. It’s a sort of charity.

    • Ashlee says:

      08:59am | 27/05/11

      I’m an aussie living in NZ and I’m all for buying fruit and veg locally and in season. Although Ronny’s claim that NZ survives off the bones Australia throws at them simply isn’t true. Fonterra supplies 1/3 of the worlds dairy products just for starters.
      New Zealanders do allot for Australians living here for instance I can vote and claim benefits here if I needed to so lay off them and keep the banter to the rugby and netball.
      New Zealand does grow nicer apples and there are a few varieties that were created here in NZ such as royal gala which are now grown all over the world. Although on the flipside I do miss aussie bananas and pineapples the ones here are imported from Ecuador blah!  Oh yes and australian grapes the ones here are from the US and are nothing like the ones back home.

    • AdamC says:

      09:33am | 26/05/11

      As an amateur, unpaid and fairly inactive member of ‘Silly’ Billy Heffernan’s ‘trade lobby’, I would argue that quarantine or, as Mr Farrr puts it ‘bio-security’ (Dun, Dun) shouldn’t be used as an undeclared, dishonest protectionist trade barrier. To ensure that it isn’t, quarantine rules and restrictions should be based on rigorous, scientific assessments of contagion risk.

      Now, as I understand it, said assessments have, in this case, found that there is insufficient risk of fire blight outbreak to justify a prohibition on NZ apples.  Now, I am happy to be contradicted on this but, if the independent experts (who, unlike in the case of climate change, generally have little stake in the outcome of their research) don’t believe the risk is sufficient to warrant a ban, one can only see this as an attempt to avoid competition from imports.

      Reply

    • Socrates of The Hills (NSW) says:

      10:16am | 26/05/11

      Who is going to pay compensation to our farmers should fire blight break out in Australian orchards ????

      Will the New Zealand government guarantee that not one apple is affected by fire blight they want to export. Unless they do - they can continue to stick out their tongues, slap their thighs and dance around like fools doing the Haka !!!!!!

    • Steve says:

      10:37am | 26/05/11

      @Socrates of the Hills

      So what if fireblight - which is obviously not laying waste to NZ apple and pear trees or their international market - crosses the ditch? 

      Fireblight does not seem to make much impact on NZ orchards.  From memory it requires some spraying at certain times of the year. 

      Being afraid of fireblight and blocking NZ apple imports is like banning tourists and migrants becuase they might have dandruff.

    • Steve says:

      10:38am | 26/05/11

      @Socrates of the Hills

      So what if fireblight - which is obviously not laying waste to NZ apple and pear trees or their international market - crosses the ditch? 

      Fireblight does not seem to make much impact on NZ orchards.  From memory it requires some spraying at certain times of the year. 

      Being afraid of fireblight and blocking NZ apple imports is like banning tourists and migrants becuase they might have dandruff.

    • Geoff - Brisbane says:

      11:06am | 26/05/11

      @ Steve - ” So what if fireblight - which is obviously not laying waste to NZ apple and pear trees or their international market - crosses the ditch?”

      So what if rabbits and cane toads - which obviously were not laying to waste to international agricultural projects.  - enter Australia?

      Wait…. we all know how that ended up. Ask New Zealand how they feel about possums. The link is these are all biological beings in strange habitats.

      History is repeating itself

    • AdamC says:

      11:06am | 26/05/11

      Socrates, your expectation of a guarantee is unreasonable.

      In any event, I don’t think anyone really believes this import ban has anything to do with fire blight. As I state above, it is a protectionist meadure.

    • Socrates of The Hills (NSW says:

      11:12am | 26/05/11

      @ Steve - bet you these diseased apples will be exported to us as organic - ROFLMFAO !!!!!!!

      Why won’t the NZ government allow Aussie pollies to inspect Kiwi farms mate - what have you got to hide ?????

      You guys are lucky we don’t check you out for syphilis or gonorrhea when you land on our pristine shores !!!!!!!

    • Tator says:

      07:26pm | 26/05/11

      the problem with NZ apples is that they use Gentamicin and streptmicin on their apples to treat fireblight.  These antibiotics remain on the apple even after washing and are not removed by cooking either.  Ingesting it via contaminated apples can lead to serious issues with antibiotic resistance.
      http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/01/25/3121188.htm

    • Fiona says:

      09:23pm | 26/05/11

      Scary stuff about the antibiotics @tater. We use those type (3rd gen antibiotics if I remember right), to help combat antibiotic resistant infections.

    • Steve says:

      10:09am | 26/05/11

      Unlike most of my posts, this is one that I know a lot about.

      I grew up in Hawkes Bay NZ surrounded by apple orchards.  I also worked around the trade negotation issues in NZ for a while.

      Mal has obviously bought the apple growers’ propaganda hook line and sinker.  It is a bit of a non-story.  If the Senator wants to visit an orchard, then he only has to drive through Hawkes Bay and stop on the side of the road. 

      I would not be surprised if the Senator does not find something to alarm himself about - perhaps a bit of fireblight he can wave at the Today Tonight reporter.

      Fire blight is a furphy.  Always has been, always will be.  It is the bio-security equivalent of the White Australia policy. 

      Ask yourself the obvious question - if fireblight is such a big problem - the apple equivalent of HIV - how come the NZ industry is far more successful than Australia’s?

      It is very well known amongst international trade bodies that Australia uses biosecurity as a trade barrier.  The Austrlain Quarantine and Inspection Service uses what could only be described as junk science to justify these import bans.

      Reply

    • Socrates of The Hills (NSW) says:

      10:42am | 26/05/11

      If your friggen apples are so good - why export them. You could always stew and bottle them for future generations of Kiwis !!!!!

      You guys even kill poor little cute lambs to make money - ROFLMFAO !!!!

    • Steve says:

      10:58am | 26/05/11

      @Socrates of the Hills

      we export apples because they are such good apples that people are willing to pay good money for them even after the extra costs of shiping around the world.

      Unlike your wine.

      And the lamb is better than Australiia’s too.  Ask the British.

    • Socrates of The Hills (NSW) says:

      01:20pm | 26/05/11

      @ Steve:

      The British buy fush and chups in unused newspaper (The Sydney Moaning Herald), so I wouldn’t use them as an example of gastronomic intelligence. They only buy NZ mutton for use in their Indian curry houses (1 in 10 British restaurants) anyway . Stop defending the indefensible.

    • AdamC says:

      01:38pm | 26/05/11

      Steve, I agree. This is clearly a non-tariff trade barrier.

    • Aussie Wazza says:

      10:16am | 26/05/11

      Ronny: Doctors orders; 3 pieces of fruit and only two glasses of beer a day.

      I have that organised.

      Reply

    • Stu says:

      10:43am | 26/05/11

      Hey, I agree with Steve.
      Australia is hiding behind a smokescreen when it comes to importing apples.
      It seems fine to send your produce to NZ with spiders, scorpions, moths and everthing else attached to pallets and cartons, but you are concerned about something thats has not been seen in NZ since early last century.
      Why are there Red Backs in Auckland and Termites in Otorohonga? NZ has not banned things from Australia because of these instances have they?
      Yes, I am a NZ’er living in Australia, and I enjoyed those $1.29 a kilo bananas from Ecuador last month when I was back.
      Australia, you can’t export without importing otherwise nobody will buy from you.
      Stu.

      Reply

    • ronny says:

      11:14am | 26/05/11

      Really not our concern if NZs custom service isn’t up to the job of protecting your little borders. Your examples perfectly illustrate why Australia needs such stringent import rules. What if our land was taken over by rampant kiwis? The birds, not the people. The people we can’t do much about.

    • Sheedy's Left Foot says:

      11:05am | 26/05/11

      Great cross ditch baiting today.

      I am just astounded that nobody has brought up the ANZAC equivalent of Godwin’s Law yet and mentioned under arm bowling. Go on, you know you want to.

      Reply

    • Wickerman says:

      11:08am | 26/05/11

      Phhhht, this fire blight excuse is getting old. NZ apples wont give fire blight to Australia, this is standard old protectionism . NZ Apple producers have proved time & again that their apples are clean I believe. Any discussion on quality & taste - leave that for the buyers.

      Reply

    • Kevin says:

      11:45am | 26/05/11

      Couldn’t we accept their apples in exchange for some of our refugees?

      Reply

    • Wilma J Craig says:

      12:00pm | 26/05/11

      The answer, ladies, gents, men,women & children of Australia &, if they can be botherd to listen to anyone other than their own spin, politicians, is simple.
      This simple answer is beyond the control of the World Trade Organisation, governments & other parasitic organisations!
      Australia produces more than enough fruit, vegetables, meat, grains etc to supply everyone here & millions overseas with food. With the exception, possibly, of Champignons, Artichokes & some other exotic foods we are capable, & do, of growing everything here.
      We do not need to import anything.
      Our supermarkets do not need to sell any imported foods, processed or what they try to tell us are “Fresh” Foods.
      How any food grown 1000s of kilometres away & which takes a week or more to get here can be branded “Fresh” is beyond me.
      Call us parochial if you wish, but we have every right, indeed it is our duty, to support our own Farmers, Orchardists, Vegetable Growers etc. before we spend one cent on imported food.
      We do not need “Out of Season” produce. Therefore we don’t need to import any Citrus Fruit from the USA or anywhere else for there are plenty of substitutes!
      Why are we importing Pork when our own Pork Producers are capable of supplying every gram we could ever need?
      It doesn’t matter a damn what the WTO says. We can even go along with the rulings of these nameless, faceless, countryless bureaucrats & allow people to import food into Australia.
      What we can do is simply Boycott all imported food products which we currently produce ourselves.
      Refuse to buy them no matter how cheap.
      Refuse to accept them even if the likes of Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, IGA, Foodland & Greengrocers etc. give them away.
      If no-one buys this stuff it will cost the importers & retailers dearly.
      Every year we are shown film of Australian Orange Growers dumping, yes dumping 1000s of tonnes of perfectly good, wholesome, nutritious Oranges. Why can’t these be squeezed, the juice frozen or condensed for use later in the year rather than buying Orange Juice which is clearly labelled “Made with Reconstituted, Imported, Orange Juice?
      I have nothing against NZ produce & would insist on it if I went to NZ. I can see no rational argument in favour of buying NZ Produce in Australia when we are producing the same produce right here. And, Vice Versa!

      Reply

    • Jordan Rastrick says:

      01:04pm | 26/05/11

      Out of curiosity, what industry do you work in, Wilma?

    • Aussie Wazza says:

      12:09pm | 26/05/11

      If it’s good enough to import apples from N.Z. then that gives power to any other country to send us whatever THEY fancy.

      I can see immediately the claim that we are racist and sticking to ‘our own white people’ when we refuse to accept VERY dangerous produce from elsewhere.

      How better off would we be without rabbits, canetoads, cactus, aids, dogs, cats and a variety of other weeds which have arrived by accident or otherwise? Sent with no ill intent but here none the less.

      Years ago (about 1957) when there was a shortage of peanuts in Kingaroy we bought them from West Africa. The CADMIUM level was several dozen times that allowed in Australia as recommended by the British and U.S. food standards. What to do? Simple, stuff the consumers health, change the rules.

      As STU points out, vermin from Australia has infested N.Z.

      Maybe they should be more vigilant.  A good lesson.

      Reply

    • Pfft says:

      03:22pm | 26/05/11

      That’s okay they’ve been sending their own vermin over via one-way Jetstar for some time now ....

    • Dazeddazza says:

      12:36pm | 26/05/11

      So our pollies on this fact finding mission cant go near any apple trees but must be satisfied with a fact finding mission to NZ dairys?
      What about asking the driver to stop when they see some apple trees on the way to the selected dairy.  And what do pollies know about apples anyway?

      Reply

    • Steve says:

      01:16pm | 26/05/11

      What is the NZ government going to do - arrest the Australian senators for ‘unauthorised inspection of an orchard’?  I think not. 

      Its a non-story.

      The Senators might be able to recognise the trees but I doubt any of them are plant disease specialists. 

      Not even sure that the trees would have any leaves on them at this time of year.

    • Socrates of The Hills (NSW) says:

      01:49pm | 26/05/11

      I propose that we boycott Mainland Cheese until we get right of entry to their friggen orchards. And have the wharfies block all Fisher & Pykel products to boot !!!!!!!!!!!!  Down with NZ imperialism - Support the Aussies - oi oi oi !!!!!!  United we stand, divided we fall !!!!!!!!!

    • Ashlee says:

      09:30am | 27/05/11

      Socrates there is a Fisher and Pykel factory is in Qld you uneducated tosser. Stop ranting BS

    • Ashlee says:

      09:47am | 27/05/11

      oops should of check my fact or looked down at Skizziks comment. I just remembered the factory in Cleveland being there and supplied allot of aussies with jobs. Socrates is still an uneducated tosser what have you got against Kiwi’s anyway perfectly nice people outside the sporting arena.

    • Skizziks says:

      02:31pm | 26/05/11

      Socrates of The Hills:
      For starters Fonterra ‘Mainland Cheese’ also own half the rest of Australian dairy in that area. Always be careful reading the labels in the Deli, pay note of where it comes from!
      And F&P? Don’t they have the plant in Qld anymore?

      Reply

    • Skizziks says:

      02:57pm | 26/05/11

      Whoops! F and P closed the Brisbane plant 2008.
      Went to Thailand and Mexico, bludgers in Aussie too expensive, export jobs.

    • Socrates of The Hills (NSW) says:

      04:40pm | 26/05/11

      And the Kiwis go on shopping trips to Tonga to find their bus drivers because they are cheaper to hire than a whitefella - I saw it on one of their Customs programs last week or the week before. Most of their fruitpickers are illegals who have diseases which probably end up on their apples and other fruit they export. Then they also grant asylum to their refugees knowing that once they gain Kiwi citizenship and a passport - they’ll be on the next plane to Oz. Treacherous bastards they are !!!!!!!!!!!!

    • bikinis on top says:

      06:57pm | 26/05/11

      Your comment
      I prefer Kiwi fruit to apples!

      Reply

    • bikinis on top says:

      06:58pm | 26/05/11

      an apple a day keeps the kiwi fruit away

      Reply

    • K Brown says:

      11:26pm | 29/05/11

      I remember NZ tomato growers being outraged in the 1970’s when Australian (Queensland) tomatoes were imported to NZ under the threat of fruitfly for the NZ industry.  I was more worried about the beautiful vine ripened NZ product being displaced by cheaper unripe tasteless product which is exactly what we ended up with; cheaper tastless Queensland tomatoes and higher prices for our beautiful tasty local product.

      Reply
 
Comment

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 26 May 12 09:27PM

Dementor doing a good job for sweden #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 26 May 12 09:11PM

Ukraine song pinches chord progression from The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony. Fo real #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 26 May 12 09:00PM

RT @GerardDaffy: @antsharwood all the talk over there is the grannies will win.they entered to get a church built,feelgood story

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 26 May 12 08:57PM

These peole insult my grandmothjer, who was born in minsk, belarus #sbseurovision

See all tweets

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

We don’t deserve this huge, exciting scientific project

by Claire Connelly

41

We don’t deserve this huge, exciting scientific project

I’d like to be able to say that sharing the world’s largest radio telescope with South Africa…

Mining money talks the loudest in Australian politics

by Laurie Oakes

60

Mining money talks the loudest in Australian politics

When North Queensland Liberal MP George Christensen got the idea of launching a new political organisation…

Please enter your password

by Lucy Kippist

39

Please enter your password

Help! I’ve succumbed to a crippling modern illness that can strike at any moment. Symptoms include:…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

Michael S says:

"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]

From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone

Change Up! says:

I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]

Light weight

Gentle jabs to the ribs

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more

243 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free daily Punch newsletter

Subscribe to The Punch RSS feed