Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support and second the member for Sturt's motion, which calls for uniform guidelines for the labelling and regulation of fertiliser products for private and domestic use in Australia. This motion rightly recognises that the information currently available to individuals purchasing fertiliser products is limited and that, in many cases, consumers are not being provided with information sufficient to determine whether a product is appropriate for the purpose they require it, including if a product might be damaging to some plants or hazardous to health. The current system of voluntary regulation for labelling and composition of fertilisers varies across all states and territories and ultimately impacts consumers' ability to make an informed purchase decision.

The Senate Select Committee on Agriculture and Related Industries reported in its report Pricing and supply arrangements in the Australian and global fertiliser market that the fertiliser product industry has been largely left without any regulation in the area of product labelling. The report highlighted that the industry itself has been calling for uniformity in compost standards to ensure that fertiliser products are of a high standard. The report's first recommendation was that the states and territories should consider, as a matter of priority, adopting uniform description and labelling of fertiliser products to ensure consistency between jurisdictions. It is clear that there is an urgent need for regulation of labelling of this industry in the form of a national standard for labelling of fertiliser products, which is actually what this motion proposes.

As it currently stands, the industry is without accountability to consumers, most obviously with residential consumers, who rely completely on information available on the packaging of the product and on anecdotal evidence available to them. The percentages of the three active ingredients in fertiliser products—phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen—are not currently required to be defined on labelling. However, the percentages of these ingredients, when combined with the factors of soil pH and the type of plant, require varying amounts of these active ingredients to prosper. Without detailed labelling consumers are simply not in a position to effectively determine what is appropriate for their specific requirements. These choices often turn into a trial and error process in determining what products will be effective for their prize roses, backyard lawns or veggie gardens.

Consumers should not have to risk using a fertiliser product that is so completely unsuited to their needs and risk damaging their plants in the process. Information about the composition of the fertiliser, the pH levels and the types of plants it is suited to should all be provided to the consumer through detailed labelling on the product itself. As a country, we have a national regulation requirement for products in many categories. Why should fertiliser products be different or have any less uniform labelling than these?

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