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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-20 Daily Xml
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Question Time

POTATO INDUSTRY

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries a question about foreign competition and disease.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Yesterday the potato processing company Mondello Farms was put into receivership. As reported by Cameron England in The Advertiser, Mondello Farms is a large wholesaler of processed potatoes and employs 140 staff in South Australia and Victoria.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: They are good people.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: And, as my colleague the Hon. John Dawkins interjects, they are very good people. Mondello Farms buys potatoes from private growers, as well as processing potatoes grown on owned and leased land. The receivers today are contacting contract growers, employees, customers and suppliers, but there is widespread concern in the industry that foreign competition is a worse threat to potato production than are the financial troubles of one processor. It concerns potatoes from New Zealand. The New Zealand potato industry is affected by pests and diseases not present in Australia, including the devastating zebra chip disease, which reduces yield and downgrades quality.

For the information of the city-living, Labor members opposite, for whom primary production means picking up a packet of frozen chips or hash browns from the supermarket freezer, the zebra disease is not an issue that is all black and white. South Australia is the country's largest potato producer. Potatoes represent the largest horticultural contribution to the gross food revenue. We have more to lose from importing New Zealand potatoes.

The zebra chip disease has caused more than $120 million damage to the New Zealand industry, and our industry says that we face catastrophic yield losses—as much as 50 per cent—if the federal government approves market access for the New Zealand potatoes. My questions are:

1. Has the minister today spoken with Mondello Farms' receiver, staff, employees or suppliers, and what arrangements, if any, are there to ensure a market for Mondello's previous suppliers?

2. What is the minister doing to protect the South Australian potato industry, worth $206 million at the farm gate, from this nasty imported disease?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for his question. Indeed our potato industry here in South Australia is a very important industry to us. It makes a significant contribution to potato growth and production right around the nation. There are many challenges for our primary producers, and the issue of importing diseases into our very clean industry is something that is very important to us.

We pride ourselves on being a very clean primary producer. We have good quality air, soil and water, and we have very well developed biosecurity measures and other standards in place to ensure that we remain clean. In relation to the importation of disease, particularly in relation to zebra chip disease, the commonwealth government in July last year released a report. That report was for the review of import conditions for fresh potatoes for processing from New Zealand.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry draft report proposed that the importation of fresh potatoes for processing from New Zealand be permitted, subject to strict quarantine conditions. The quarantine conditions recommended are that the potatoes have been washed or brushed to remove soil and trash, and that they have been subjected to quarantine inspection by both New Zealand and Australian officers. The potatoes must only come from farms free from potato cyst nematode and potato black wart.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Nasty, that black wart.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Well, there are a number of diseases, not just the zebra chip, so we ensure that we have quarantine conditions and processes in place to ensure that our primary producers remain protected. Transport in Australia will be in secure containers and all potatoes must be sent for processing under quarantine control. All waste must be disposed of under quarantine approved treatment—incineration or deep burial. Fresh whole potatoes from New Zealand will not be available for retail sale in Australia. I think that is important to note.

Zebra chip infected potatoes are not commercially acceptable and traded as the processed product tastes burnt and is discoloured; thus, there is a commercial imperative to source zebra chip free potatoes for processing. Zebra chip can only be spread by a very small insect—the tomato potato psyllid. This insect lives and feeds on the leaves and stems of the potato, not actually on the potato tuber so, given the proposed zero tolerance for trash, there is no viable pathway for this insect to enter Australia.

A second safety net exists because the only New Zealand potato available to Australian consumers will be processed into fries and chips. This measure removes the pathway for the actual zebra chip bacteria to enter Australia in any viable state. SARDI scientists have examined the DAFF biosecurity risk assessment process and support the proposed risk management procedures and systems, so they have been looked at.

The importation of potatoes into Australia is a commonwealth government responsibility. The final decision will be based on the best available science and be consistent with international trade rules. The potato industry, as I said, is a very important industry to us, with a farm gate value, I have been advised, of about $102 million in 2010-11. South Australia is the nation's largest potato producing state. A 60-day stakeholder consultation period that closed, I understand, in September 2012, provided stakeholders with an opportunity to identify any deficiencies in that risk assessment process.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: This was what was read out here months ago when I asked you about it.

The PRESIDENT: Order, the Hon. Mr Dawkins!

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: You are so lazy.

The PRESIDENT: Minister.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: The opposition is so lazy, they keep coming back into this place—

The PRESIDENT: Minister.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —with the same question. So, I've already answered this question before. He is absolutely quite right.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: They are lazy. They keep coming back into this place with the same old tired questions. So, the honourable member wants to know how we manage these risks; I'm outlining how we manage them. He asked the question again, so I'm going to give the answer again—

The PRESIDENT: The honourable minister will ignore the interjections.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —and I am going to give it in more detail—

The PRESIDENT: You will ignore the interjections.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —because he obviously didn't hear it the first time.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: I certainly did.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Well, I am very pleased that you didn't ask the same question. It's a shame the Hon. David Ridgway—

The PRESIDENT: Minister, you will ignore the interjection.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —wasn't listening at the time.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: You haven't answered my first question.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: So, the 60-day stakeholder consultation period—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Oh, you can't, sorry—that's right. You don't know the answer.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —that closed on 3 September—

The PRESIDENT: And you are out of order, the Hon. Mr Ridgway. You are not helping.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —provided stakeholders with an opportunity to identify the deficiencies.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: She needs all the help she can get.

The PRESIDENT: And you should keep chipping away.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: All submissions received will be analysed and taken into account. The final policy, I am advised, will be reported on in June this year—that is what they are planning to do. So, you can see that a great deal of effort and analysis has gone into this—the risk assessment and rigorous analysis of the potential for risk—and that measures have been put in place to eliminate any disease of this type entering our primary production.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway has a supplementary.

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