Sydney, 12 August 2015: As the Senate prepares to vote on a bill that would require restaurants to tell customers where their seafood comes from, Greenpeace research reveals the lobby groups opposed to country of origin labelling gave nearly $850,000 to the Liberal Party from 2012 to 2014.
“Food industry lobby groups have been fighting labelling reform for years and their success in keeping Australian consumers in the dark shows they wield an unhealthy influence on government policy,” said Nathaniel Pelle, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Oceans Campaigner.
“It won’t come as a shock if the Government sits on their hands again when this bill comes before the Senate," he said.
The bill, tabled by Senator Nick Xenophon, is due to be voted on this morning. It is supported by cross-bench Senators Whish-Wilson, Madigan, Lambie, Wang and Lazarus.
“Country of origin labelling is crucial where seafood is concerned, as 72% of what we consume is imported, and so much seafood is not sustainably caught. Some is even tied to human rights and labour abuse," said Pelle.
Australia currently imports seafood from 81 countries. The top four sources of seafood imports -Thailand, China, Vietnam and New Zealand - are each on a different tier of the US State Department’s human trafficking report; Thailand, Australia’s biggest source of seafood, is a country of most concern.
“What we are seeing is vested interests who make large donations to the Liberal Party seeming to get their way, while the public, the Australian fishing industry, and ultimately, the environment lose out," said Pelle.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific compiled hundreds of donation declarations from the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) - the biggest donor to the Liberal Party - the Accommodation Association of Australia, and the Restaurant and Catering Association (RCA).
The data shows that, between 2012 and 2014, the Liberal party received a substantial $838,244 in donations in cash and kind from these groups:
AHA and related companies: $733,916
RCA: $77,828
Accommodation Association of Australia: $26,500
The three groups, along with the Seafood Importers Association, are behind an anti-labelling document that has been circulated to MPs and Senators as part of lobbying efforts.
“The unrepresentative Restaurant and Catering Association in particular, led by Liberal fundraising figure John Hart, is focused on preventing country of origin labelling for seafood in restaurants and take aways.
"They are citing unsubstantiated and wildly inflated figures about the costs of labeling to restaurants," said Pelle.
A number of chefs and restaurateurs have joined Greenpeace and the Label My Fish alliance’s calls for seafood labelling in restaurants, including former chef and food critic, and presenter of SBS’s The Gourmet Farmer, Matthew Evans.
“It won’t come as a shock if the Government sits on their hands again when this bill comes before the Senate," he said.
The bill, tabled by Senator Nick Xenophon, is due to be voted on this morning. It is supported by cross-bench Senators Whish-Wilson, Madigan, Lambie, Wang and Lazarus.
“Country of origin labelling is crucial where seafood is concerned, as 72% of what we consume is imported, and so much seafood is not sustainably caught. Some is even tied to human rights and labour abuse," said Pelle.
Australia currently imports seafood from 81 countries. The top four sources of seafood imports -Thailand, China, Vietnam and New Zealand - are each on a different tier of the US State Department’s human trafficking report; Thailand, Australia’s biggest source of seafood, is a country of most concern.
“What we are seeing is vested interests who make large donations to the Liberal Party seeming to get their way, while the public, the Australian fishing industry, and ultimately, the environment lose out," said Pelle.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific compiled hundreds of donation declarations from the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) - the biggest donor to the Liberal Party - the Accommodation Association of Australia, and the Restaurant and Catering Association (RCA).
The data shows that, between 2012 and 2014, the Liberal party received a substantial $838,244 in donations in cash and kind from these groups:
AHA and related companies: $733,916
RCA: $77,828
Accommodation Association of Australia: $26,500
The three groups, along with the Seafood Importers Association, are behind an anti-labelling document that has been circulated to MPs and Senators as part of lobbying efforts.
“The unrepresentative Restaurant and Catering Association in particular, led by Liberal fundraising figure John Hart, is focused on preventing country of origin labelling for seafood in restaurants and take aways.
"They are citing unsubstantiated and wildly inflated figures about the costs of labeling to restaurants," said Pelle.
A number of chefs and restaurateurs have joined Greenpeace and the Label My Fish alliance’s calls for seafood labelling in restaurants, including former chef and food critic, and presenter of SBS’s The Gourmet Farmer, Matthew Evans.
“Most chefs want their customers to know what they’re eating, and most customers want to know where their food comes from.
"The cost of giving people good information is not high unless you write your menus in gold leaf. Some of the figures mentioned by the anti-labelling lobby are laughable,” said Evans.
A joint statement from 16 Commonwealth and regional industry associations representing wild-caught fishers and fish farmers, as well as environmental organisations, has called for country of origin labelling in restaurants and takeaway stores – as recommended by a recent Senate inquiry.
The groups also called for the mandatory use of the Australian Fish Names Standard.