Open letter to Michael McCormack:
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Michael, you insisted that I make a submission to the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper, which I did. There were 24 pages including six diagrams relating to the problems with the citrus industry.
After the submission date we developed a solution, but they would not accept that.
The Green Paper has been presented by government and you have asked that I make a presentation to it.
When I asked you to have Barnaby Joyce visit Griffith or for you to represent his findings of his four-page letter to me, your assistant wrote that there was nothing more that you could talk to me about.
Barnaby's letter has 51 points of difference.
Since 1970 Valencia orange production has decreased from 400,000 tonnes per annum in 1970 (when tariffs started to go down), to 200,000 tonnes per annum now and on a downward trajectory.
The slack is taken up by contaminated Brazilian orange concentrate, which is much cheaper.
It contains carbendazim, which is banned for use by Australian farmers. It has no vitamin C.
The Brazilian orchards have been attacked by citrus greening disease. This disease is so deadly that oranges can never grow on that soil again. Our health budget has gone up 400 per cent in 20 years.
Why are you not able to talk to me about these and many other things?