Sharman Stone - Fire Blight Queen....

Sharman Oh Sharman, what have you and yours done?

Sold out to the New World Order for an apple or a ton.

Be careful dear girl, your planned retirement in glory

May be spoiled by this problem when they tell the whole story.

When it develops and destroys all the pears and apples in sight

You may wish to book a trip on the first flight.

Poetry was not my strong point at school as you can see,

Common sense though was taught so that we remained free.

If you continue to travel this path of destruction,

You sure as hell will suffer the ruction.

So if you continue to make Treaties without doing your sums,

I am sure it will come back to bite you all on your bums.

Are we surprised at this man's response? It's not just agriculture he doesn't understand - it's the whole concept of working for a living. Remember, when this is the first real job you've ever had, it must be hard to get a handle on the real world.

As a non partisan bystander, I ponder on the question "why can't Aussie growers compete with the kiwis? Are they simply better at growing hort products than us?". Techincal trade barriers, (which is all this is), aren't going to hold up much longer. The industry argument continues to move between fireblight will decimate the industry to NZ apples the flood the market and drive down $prices and hurt the battlers(should they even be there then?) - either argument is floored and easily argued against and public funded indurty structual adjustment buckets are becoming a thing of the past. The fact is growers should have seen the writing on the wall long ago and looked to improve their practices/varieties/marketing/economy of scale. Turning over a percentage of your orchard every couple years is not enough. I'd be looking at my industry leaders and asking why they didn't show more leadership in advising you to prepare, rather than put their head in the sand, thinking "we''ll fight this battle, and maybe get another five years free of competition." I think it is hypocritical of the sector to be calling for increased market access into asia for example, yet complain everytime another country wants to import here. Blaming government is the wrong answer. Maybe you could lobby them for incentives to adopt better practices, change R&D priorities (as you pay for it), increase your skills and knowledge for working in or out of the setor. I'm sorry but the reality is the ag operating environment is changing and will continue to change at an increasingly rapid pace. The "lifestyle" component the ag sector, which many people will argue they are not, must change or accept they aren't going to be viable in the long term. Why whittle away at your equity, dimish your children's inheritance and increase stress by fighting a losing battle. Sure it is a tough decision to make, and I recognise that your lives/family are intrinsically linked to your business, but is it not better that growers assess their long term viability now "in the real world" as Unruddy puts it?

The defense of our agricultural disease status is omnipotent.

Any risk is unacceptable. Perhaps if New Zealand, or any other country that wishes to trade with the risk of infection or breach of quarrentine, could, instead of persuing a legal battle to lower our standards, introduce a plan of accountability in the event of an outbreak or crisis. Free Trade should not expose us to injury or hazard.

We do not have much arable land and apple growers use it wisely to get a good turnoff vs soil depletion ratio .

They like all farmers need our support or we will starve in the future. JO

The Apple import from NZ debate is one of fear that the obviously superior Kiwi products are likely to achieve significant market share. When comparing the Aussie product available in supermarkets to the NZ products available in NZ there is no question as to the superiority of the Kiwi product,in terms of size,flavour, appearance and varieties. Competition will improve the aussie product giving both the grower and consumer a superior product. Fire blight is a "smoke screen"

We need to get real - blind subsidies for farmers (see sugar grower), the coal industry or hairdressers for that matter don't pay off in the long term either for the farmers or society. I don't expect a subsidy because I lost my 15-year factory job. That's reality apple farmers do get good use out of that and this should be taken into account - see rice farming and for the person who suggested Rudd doesn't work hard you must be joking. Our future in a globalised world is in this region and somebody like him (however annoying) will work his butt of to ensure all of us have friendly export destinations

Having labor in governement right now is like the Titanic heading for the iceburg. Another 15months of these idiots and every sector of our countries industry will be riddled with worms. Happy you voted for them now?

Don't let the facts get in the way of a decision.

I note Aussie growers grow the Gala apple which would have used bud wood imported from NZ.

There would be more risk from an orchard worker pruning one day and catching the plane to Aussie the next day wearing the same clothing covered in Fireblight spores.

If Fireblight is so devastating, how come NZ has a successful apple industry?

Riddle me this... if fireblight poses such a threat to the Australian crops then how is it NZ has an apple and pear industry?

Let's face it...this ban has been in place for 80 years and needs to be reviewed with a more modern view of controls.

Are we all aware that the WTO has already ruled on this in a dispute between the US and Japan and ruled that fireblight cannot be transmitted via mature fruit.

This ain't about agriculture quarantine standards... it's about government lobbying and protecting inefficient industries.