Across The Ditch was recorded live on 13/02/14.
In this week’s Across The Ditch bulletin on 5AA Australia, Selwyn Manning and Peter Godfrey discuss the following two issues:
There’s a lot of anger brewing on this side of the ditch over New Zealand produce and brands being removed and banned from Australian supermarkets, namely those owned by the Coles and Woolworths chains.
Kiwi made and grown products are being excluded in favor of a competitive Buy Australian Made goods marketing campaign.
Last week, Prime Minister John Key was under pressure to raise the issue during his meeting with Tony Abbott. Pressure had intensified here demanding Key lay down the law… and insist New Zealand goods to be stocked in the supermarkets without prejudice.
But John Key and Tony Abbott were both loathed permit politics to interfere in what they said was a business move by the supermarket giants. They both conceeded that banning NZ goods may be in breach of the Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement but that aggrieved parties should seek recourse through the courts or the Australian Commerce Commission if they thought they had a case.
And yesterday in Parliament, senior Labour MP Shane Jones said under privilege that Countdown supermarket managers, here in NZ, had called in suppliers to special meetings where they were told if they did not compensate the supermarkets for stock that failed to sell in 2013, then they would have their products and produce banned from sale here in NZ.
Countdown is owned by Progressive Enterprises, which is owned by Woolworths. A spokesperson for the supermarket chain denied such demands had been made. But that didn’t stop the MP Jones from referring to it as a ruthless “Dingo culture”.
Also: And on a more explosive issue… scientists are drilling down into Rangitoto, a volcanic Island which rests about one kilometre off Auckland City’s coast. The scientists are testing when exactly the island rose from the sea.
It was believed Rangitoto erupted only around 700 years ago and its explosive birth was recorded in Maori history. But initial core samples suggest Rangitoto has had a long history of intermittent eruptions raising a theory that it could awaken from its slumber and erupt once again…
Auckland City sits upon a volcanic field of around 50 relatively small volcanoes. Rangitoto is the largest cone in the field.
Across The Ditch broadcasts live weekly on 5AA Australia and webcasts on TheDailyBlog, LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.
