fair dinkum

I have been called a traitor. I have been called “un-Australian and “not a real Australian” because I have only been an Australian citizen for 25 years and was born in New Zealand.

And it’s all because of bloody spuds!

McDonald’s decided that they could get high quality potatoes for their French fries in New Zealand and dumped some Tasmanian growers. A commercial decision. And they were entitled to make that commercial decision.

Since then we have seen Tasmanian farmers trundling their (Japanese made) tractors through Victoria and across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on their way to Canberra. And the Tasmanian premier, Paul Lennon, has grandstanded and demanded I go to Tasmania for a public debate.  He called me “cowardly and unAustralian”. I think that’s because I said I had more important things to do.

Imagine if a Tasmanian potato grower could sell all his spuds to a fast food outlet in Texas. Do you think he wouldn’t?  He would be on to it like a seagull on a piece of hot fat.

We buy and eat imported food. We wear imported clothes. The days of protectionism are gone. We watch American TV on sets made in Japan. We drink orange juice from concentrate that comes from South America. We drink Australian wine but so do the Poms and Californians.

You can’t have it both ways. Kylie Minogue sells more records in Britain than she sells here. Should she be restricted from record sales there?

Our politicians and so-called economic gurus keep talking about our balance of trade deficit and how we must export more. And yet, selfish, blinkered, self-serving, pointy-heads in Tasmania shout: “What about me?”

It’s a big world out there. And you have to compete or wither on the vine. And trundling your tractor to Canberra aint gonna help.

My opinion sparked some savage xenophobic e-mails. Like these.

“If you were really serious about buying apples from Brazil, why not do all Australians a favour and move and live in Brazil.  It’s obvious you are not Australian born - you have no alliance whatsoever to Aussies.”

Or try this one: “It's easy to criticise farmers when we're sitting in our ivory tower and being paid enough to buy food and pay bills without worrying where the money is coming from.  Come down and work on a farm for a week, get your hands into the soil, sit down and look at the monthly bills.  Then tell me, that our industry doesn't need any support.”

To that one I responded:

I did own a farm for about twenty years. Wore gumboots.  Raised cattle. Birthed calves. Started a vineyard. Planted and pruned vines. Choked on the lime as we seasoned the vineyard. Lost about two million dollars. And then lost the farm. No Government gave me any support. And neither should it. It is a big commercial world out there. Get good. Get efficient. Or get out.

As part of the “fair dinkum” campaign they had Melbourne’s richest man, Richard Pratt, addressing a rally in Shepparton.

The cardboard king said that “our food industry is at a crossroads. If we don’t act now, there won’t be a major fresh and processed food industry in this country in twenty years”.

Is Mr. Pratt preaching protectionism here? More tariffs?  This is a billionaire who makes heaps of his money through recycling factories in the United States. Should the US have blocked him from trading there?

It is a big, tough, commercial world out there. An international trading world. We import. We export. We drive Japanese tractors like the bleating Tasmanian farmers who lost the spud fight with McDonald’s and NZ.

HINCH COLUMN

THIRD LAST FAIR DINKUM

I like an analogy from a correspondent which puts it all into perspective. He wrote:

Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6am. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG). He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY) and continued his search for a good paying Australian JOB. At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL) poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE) to have with his pasta made in (Italy)  and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in.Australia.....”

Frozen vegetables from Belgium and Denmark and the Netherlands are coming in here.  And if we could sell quality produce to those countries then we would do it in a flash.

Imagine a million dollar deal for Tasmanian cheese to France?

To the whingers in Tasmania…. I rest my case. Get into the real world.

Addendum: In my last column about playing pool I omitted to mention the greatest cue man in history. Walter Lindrum. Sorry.

August 14, 2005

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2005