Economy
McCains: Labor ignored report
David Bartlett, Michael Aird and David Llewellyn have all suggested in some form or another that the recent developments with McCains comes as a surprise to them. For a start they obviously haven’t had a beer at the local and talked to employees. Secondly, and more importantly their own McKinna report, commissioned in 2007, highlights that this exact scenario was quite on the cards.
It specifically highlighted the competitive advantages New Zealand had in regard to processing vegetables. How Tasmania wasn’t conducive for such processors to continue to spend money on upgrades, the huge threat of imports, the (often negative) role major supermarkets played in the chain, the threat of China, the MIS, plantation land and poison threats, best practice farming elsewhere, government legislation, branding etc etc etc. And suggested some very positive ways forward.
Labor hasn’t pulled their finger out fast enough and helped create a conducive climate to help change the industry in line to a positive productive way forward. Bryan Greens task force should have been set up two years ago.
Instead of continually ignoring so much of this report and being so pig headed, maybe Labor should get their priorities in order and think about the communities first rather than their own skins, and let all 3 parties be involved in helping such an important industry, otherwise there is a very big likely hood they will continue to ignore some of the key threats to the industry and thus continue to push the industry backwards rather than forwards. Maybe that’s what ‘due diligence’ looks like Mr Aired.
Parts of the Mckinna report for those interested: HERE and HERE