Mark Baker (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to discuss the apple and pear industry and the challenges being faced by our fruit producers and associated industries. Apple production in Tasmania, for example, in 2004-05 was some 45,000 tonnes, and Tasmania is responsible for almost 65 per cent of all Australian apple exports to overseas markets. In 2005-06, the value of Tasmania’s apple exports was approximately $4.92 million and, of this amount, some $720,000 worth of apples were exported to the ASEAN region; $480,000, to the European Union; $1.5 million, to North Asia; and some $220,000, to other regions. Tasmanian apples are exported to a wide range of countries, including the United Kingdom, the USA, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Restrictions on the export of Tasmanian apple varieties, other than Fuji apples to Japan, were lifted in July 2006. Tasmanian orchardists can now export any variety of apples, which will potentially increase apple exports and allow growers who have not previously been able to export to Japan to begin doing so. Exports of apples to Japan are also expected to grow due to a solution having been found to the problem of apples browning due to fumigation. Australia’s high-quality product and disease-free status have been pivotal in ensuring export markets for our fruit produce.

The future of the apple and pear industry, especially in Tasmania, is seen to lie in upgrading rather than in expansion. Investment in high-density plantings with high-value cultivars and newer varieties will capitalise on Tasmania’s mild climatic conditions, reliable production and availability of land and water resources.

However, despite this good news, the apple and pear industry faces other significant challenges. In particular, there are significant concerns that imported produce could present a serious threat to the industry by potentially carrying the devastating bacterial disease of fire blight and other exotic pests. For example, the recent decision to allow New Zealand apples into Australia, even under the strictest conditions, raises the real spectre of fire blight, a disease which significantly threatens the biosecurity of our own apple and pear industry.

The facts about fire blight include: (1) there is no fruit-growing area in New Zealand free of fire blight; (2) fire blight has spread from the USA to 46 other countries and, with the exception of one instance, scientists have not been able to confirm the method of introduction; (3) the disease can be spread by wind, rain, birds, insects and aerosol droplets; (4) Australia has a significant number of insects that could spread the disease, and it also has myriad host plants other than apples and pears which are susceptible to the disease; and (5) Australia has much more favourable weather conditions than New Zealand for the establishment and spread of fire blight. I understand that in ideal conditions the bacteria can replicate from one to one billion in just 30 hours. In some areas with similar climates to Australia where fire blight has been introduced, the disease has made it impossible to grow pears economically.

The disease-free status of Australian fruit has been pivotal in attracting and retaining export markets for our produce. The recent decision by Biosecurity Australia to allow imports of New Zealand apples was made despite a 400-page submission prepared by Apple and Pear Australia Ltd, the national industry peak body, against such a decision. The Import Risk Analysis Appeal Panel’s subsequent dismissal of industry concerns that such action could enable the disease fire blight to infect Australia has been roundly rejected by peak bodies in the industry. These include Tasmanian apple growers, who appealed the decision; Fruit Growers Tasmania Inc., who are proposing to hold talks with the Tasmanian government about ensuring that state quarantine barriers are maintained at such a level that they will prevent any risk of fire blight and other diseases entering my home state of Tasmania; and the Australian Apple and Pear Growers Association, who have indicated that they may seek to have a Senate inquiry into the decision of Biosecurity Australia.

I believe that our fruit growers deserve an independent and transparent process of quarantine protection which ensures adequate inspection of orchards at appropriate times—for example, immediately prior to harvest—in order to ensure protection against the spread of fire blight. It is somewhat ironic that there is an arrangement that Tasmanian growers exporting apples to China have their orchards inspected three times a year for fire blight even when we do not have the disease, yet our own growers are being asked to accept that one inspection of orchards—which may take place at a time in the growing cycle when the presence of the disease is not apparent—is permitted for produce being imported here from a country that does have the disease.

Retention of Australia’s pest-free status in relation to fire blight and European canker is critical to both maintaining and growing our markets and to ensuring the continued viability of our fruit industry— (Time expired)