Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner visited the Brisbane Markets, not only sampling some of the fruit for breakfast, but declaring that the state's rockmelon industry is ready to bounce back, with the fruit becoming available in shops and markets around the state.
"I want to send a message to Queenslanders and retailers to get behind Queensland rockmelons." Mr Furner said. "Get some melon in your mouth and enjoy this fruit. It's an amazing fruit. It's fresh, it's safe and it's enjoyable."
Listeria was discovered in the NSW Riverina region in February. While it was an isolated case, growers have suffered more than $15 million in losses Australia-wide, and there have been reports of whole crops being left to rot, mainly due to a lack of confidence from buyers.
Mr Furner says seeing fresh Queensland rockmelons on the shelf is great, but some growers, wholesalers and retailers are still doing it tough.
"It is a shame that we had a situation where we had a sole outbreak of listeria in New South Wales," he said. "We are moving out of the summer market to the winter market of the rockies (rockmelons) coming down from the Burdekin area. We want to make sure that people understand that Queensland rockmelons are safe, and that's why people need to support the industry."
The Minister says demand is down by as much as 50 per cent and both local sales and exports have been impacted by this incident in the southern states. He even went as far as organising for local rockmelons to be delivered to his colleagues at Parliament House.
"I will be taking that back to the cabinet ministers and getting them to consume some rockmelon to demonstrate it is safe," Mr Furner said. "So if you have the whole Queensland cabinet eating rockmelon, surely that's testimonial that everyone should get down to their local store and purchase some rockmelon. We want to continue to engage with the Australian Melon Association (AMA) to ensure we have an open dialogue to make sure these problems do not end up in Queensland. We have systems throughout the department as a result of other outbreaks of other types of diseases that we are on top of these situations. So people should be assured whatever they purchase in Queensland is safe and reliable."
Chairman of the AMA Mark Daunt has reaffirmed that safety is the main priority for Queensland farmers.
“There is no ongoing risk of listeriosis from rockmelons now on sale,” Mr Daunt said. “The industry has invested in a research project to support rockmelon growers, to ensure their food safety systems are as effective and efficient as possible. We are also working closely with our growers and retailers to ensure consumers understand rockmelons are safe to eat.”
For more information:
Australian Melon Association
www.melonsaustralia.org.au
idp@melonsaustralia.org.au