09 Sep BOYCOTT BEGA AS GROWERS PAID PEANUTS FOR CROP: KAP

Katter’s Australian Party Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter is calling on the Queensland public to boycott peanut butter giant Bega Foods after revelations it’s slashing its payments to Aussie growers.

Peanut growers will receive up to $100 less per tonne in a move blamed on competition with cheap imports, but Mr Katter said this un-Australian corporate behaviour could not go unpunished by consumers.

“We are constantly fighting against the threats to the sovereignty of our country, our Aussie industries, economy and security from cheap foreign imports, be it seafood, fuel, or a long list of others,” he said.

“We urge consumers to hit this corporate giant where it hurts and boycott Bega Food’s products in preference of locally-made or products using Australian peanuts until they get the message that we will not tolerate Aussie farmers, and in turn our entire country, being undercut.”

Mr Katter said despite heightened consumer awareness and demand for locally-grown food, big corporates and the Palaszczuk Government were still not listening, and instead allowing pristine top-quality Aussie product to be squeezed out by inferior foreign imports.

“Peanut growers are now voicing their very real concern that Bega Foods’ move could lead to growers pulling back their production and therefore making it harder and harder to find and buy Australian peanuts,” Mr Katter said.

“You can’t blame them – growers are already grappling with exorbitant on-farm costs with sky-high fuel and fertiliser bills; lower price for their product could very well be the straw to break the camel’s back.”

Peanut growers have echoed calls for country of origin labelling on their products to highlight the disconnect between high-quality product marketing and the price paid to growers, similar to the KAP’s proposal in its seafood labelling bill, which calls to include the letter ‘i’ to represent imported seafood and better inform consumers.

“Queensland has a world-class reputation for its superior produce and it’s a travesty that the people who bring this produce to Australia and the world are treated like paupers,” Mr Katter said.

“Bega Foods only cares about the big bucks and making big profit so please, the next time you’re at the grocery store, leave Bega Foods’ products on the shelves to show that supporting imported over local does not pay off.”

—ENDS—