Shadow Minister for Primary Industries & Water, Shadow Minister for Police & Emergency Services, Shadow Minister for Parks & Wildlife, Shadow Minister for Local Government

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03
Sep

Tas vegetables squeezed out of the market

2009

Reports that Australia is being swamped with imported vegetables calls into question the adequacy of the State Government’s attempt to address this issue when it was highlighted in 2005

At the time, Richard Bovill’s Fair Dinkum Food campaign shamed the State Government into offering support. But it looks like, as has happened before, as soon as the cameras move on the State Government drops the issue and chases its next headline.
That may work if you’re only interested in short-term outcomes, but it clearly won’t help Tasmania’s primary industry sector in the long-term.
Of course, the big announcement back in 2005 was $4 million to advertise Tasmanian vegetables interstate.
The Tasmanian farmers that I have been speaking to have questioned what outcomes are being delivered from this government spending and are anxious to know what, if anything, the State Government proposes to do to stop Tasmanian produce being priced out of the market.
The Tasmanian Liberals would like to see a broader strategic approach taken. This should include sustained, long-term investments in marketing Tasmanian produce.
It should include assisting exporters, especially produce exporters, to cope with the global financial crisis, which the Tasmanian Liberals are already committed to.
It should also include lobbying the Federal Government to investigate what it can do to encourage Australians to buy Australian produce.
How can Tasmania be the food bowl of the nation if we are already being squeezed out of the market as China attempts to become the food bowl of the world?