Who wouldn't want to save SPC-Ardmona? Australia's last major fruit & vegetable processor will go under unless the federal govt takes action under emergency tariff rules allowed by the WTO and direct action in purchasing is taken by all govts.

Who wouldn't want to stop the progressive destruction of 750,000 fruit trees in the Goulburn Valley in Victoria?

Who wouldn't want ensure we continue to have access to processed fruit free from heavy metals and other contaminents?

Go to www.meanttobegrown.com.au and send an email to your MPs and Senators. Take you less time than writing a post here.

And tell your friends to do the same.

Ask our labor gov in SA how they can let this industry die in the river lands, then ask the previous fed gov how they can flood our market with cheap fruit from the America's while our growers are dumping 100s of tons.

De-registered User wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:33am:

Ask our labor gov in SA how they can let this industry die in the river lands, then ask the previous fed gov how they can flood our market with cheap fruit from the America's while our growers are dumping 100s of tons.

That's the ALP at work - screwing the little guy over and over.

Bogey: Spot-on, and a good idea. Doing it.

Gen-X and AP really do need a reality-check, this was going on LONG before Labor came to power.

Selective blindness, or those peril-sensitive sunglasses again?

Kat wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:39am:

Bogey: Spot-on, and a good idea. Doing it. Gen-X and AP really do need a reality-check, this was going on LONG before Labor came to power. Selective blindness, or those peril-sensitive sunglasses again?

Yet Abbott is (according to you Leftards) responsible for the car industry going down the gurgler? Odd!  :-?

Kat wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:39am:

Bogey: Spot-on, and a good idea. Doing it. Gen-X and AP really do need a reality-check, this was going on LONG before Labor came to power. Selective blindness, or those peril-sensitive sunglasses again?

Isnt it what this forum is all about, I have seen you suffer from it too.

bogarde73 wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:30am:

Who wouldn't want to save SPC-Ardmona? Australia's last major fruit & vegetable processor will go under unless the federal govt takes action under emergency tariff rules allowed by the WTO and direct action in purchasing is taken by all govts. Who wouldn't want to stop the progressive destruction of 750,000 fruit trees in the Goulburn Valley in Victoria? Who wouldn't want ensure we continue to have access to processed fruit free from heavy metals and other contaminents? Go to www.meanttobegrown.com.au and send an email to your MPs and Senators. Take you less time than writing a post here. And tell your friends to do the same.

thanks bogy will do... we have done so much for the car industry...and now they are demanding more.. enough will never be enough.. ::) ::)

we just cannot sit back and watch this mindless destruction of our fruit and veg.industry.

Coles and Woollies needd to take a good look at themselves as well..they are not blameless

aussie products end up on the bottom shelf so they can promote their imported brands at eye level..they expect brands like SPC to pay extra for that privilege... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

cods wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:41am:

bogarde73 wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:30am: Who wouldn't want to save SPC-Ardmona? Australia's last major fruit & vegetable processor will go under unless the federal govt takes action under emergency tariff rules allowed by the WTO and direct action in purchasing is taken by all govts. Who wouldn't want to stop the progressive destruction of 750,000 fruit trees in the Goulburn Valley in Victoria? Who wouldn't want ensure we continue to have access to processed fruit free from heavy metals and other contaminents? Go to www.meanttobegrown.com.au and send an email to your MPs and Senators. Take you less time than writing a post here. And tell your friends to do the same. thanks bogy will do... we have done so much for the car industry...and now they are demanding more.. enough will never be enough.. ::) ::) we just cannot sit back and watch this mindless destruction of our fruit and veg.industry. Coles and Woollies needd to take a good look at themselves as well..they are not blameless aussie products end up on the bottom shelf so they can promote their imported brands at eye level..they expect brands like SPC to pay extra for that privilege... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Unfortunately the labor government made it unaffordable for the average aussie to afford aussie products. Labor voters made the cost of living too high!

De-registered User wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:44am:

cods wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:41am: bogarde73 wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:30am: Who wouldn't want to save SPC-Ardmona? Australia's last major fruit & vegetable processor will go under unless the federal govt takes action under emergency tariff rules allowed by the WTO and direct action in purchasing is taken by all govts. Who wouldn't want to stop the progressive destruction of 750,000 fruit trees in the Goulburn Valley in Victoria? Who wouldn't want ensure we continue to have access to processed fruit free from heavy metals and other contaminents? Go to www.meanttobegrown.com.au and send an email to your MPs and Senators. Take you less time than writing a post here. And tell your friends to do the same. thanks bogy will do... we have done so much for the car industry...and now they are demanding more.. enough will never be enough.. ::) ::) we just cannot sit back and watch this mindless destruction of our fruit and veg.industry. Coles and Woollies needd to take a good look at themselves as well..they are not blameless aussie products end up on the bottom shelf so they can promote their imported brands at eye level..they expect brands like SPC to pay extra for that privilege... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Unfortunately the labor government made it unaffordable for the average aussie to afford aussie products. Labor voters made the cost of living too high!

Yep, because unions forced employers such as car manufacturers to provide ridiculous wages and benefits that in turn forced up the price of cars produced locally, making our automotive industry less competitive right from the outset. Good job, Labor and unions!

Armchair_Politician wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:52am:

De-registered User wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:44am: cods wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:41am: bogarde73 wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:30am: Who wouldn't want to save SPC-Ardmona? Australia's last major fruit & vegetable processor will go under unless the federal govt takes action under emergency tariff rules allowed by the WTO and direct action in purchasing is taken by all govts. Who wouldn't want to stop the progressive destruction of 750,000 fruit trees in the Goulburn Valley in Victoria? Who wouldn't want ensure we continue to have access to processed fruit free from heavy metals and other contaminents? Go to www.meanttobegrown.com.au and send an email to your MPs and Senators. Take you less time than writing a post here. And tell your friends to do the same. thanks bogy will do... we have done so much for the car industry...and now they are demanding more.. enough will never be enough.. ::) ::) we just cannot sit back and watch this mindless destruction of our fruit and veg.industry. Coles and Woollies needd to take a good look at themselves as well..they are not blameless aussie products end up on the bottom shelf so they can promote their imported brands at eye level..they expect brands like SPC to pay extra for that privilege... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Unfortunately the labor government made it unaffordable for the average aussie to afford aussie products. Labor voters made the cost of living too high! Yep, because unions forced employers such as car manufacturers to provide ridiculous wages and benefits that in turn forced up the price of cars produced locally, making our automotive industry less competitive right from the outset. Good job, Labor and unions!

Yeah, just keep pushing this barrow-load of crap.

Won't make it any less untrue.

Sore because the greedy and selfish lost an 'entitlement' is all that you're pyssy about.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:52am:

De-registered User wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:44am: cods wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:41am: bogarde73 wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:30am: Who wouldn't want to save SPC-Ardmona? Australia's last major fruit & vegetable processor will go under unless the federal govt takes action under emergency tariff rules allowed by the WTO and direct action in purchasing is taken by all govts. Who wouldn't want to stop the progressive destruction of 750,000 fruit trees in the Goulburn Valley in Victoria? Who wouldn't want ensure we continue to have access to processed fruit free from heavy metals and other contaminents? Go to www.meanttobegrown.com.au and send an email to your MPs and Senators. Take you less time than writing a post here. And tell your friends to do the same. thanks bogy will do... we have done so much for the car industry...and now they are demanding more.. enough will never be enough.. ::) ::) we just cannot sit back and watch this mindless destruction of our fruit and veg.industry. Coles and Woollies needd to take a good look at themselves as well..they are not blameless aussie products end up on the bottom shelf so they can promote their imported brands at eye level..they expect brands like SPC to pay extra for that privilege... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Unfortunately the labor government made it unaffordable for the average aussie to afford aussie products. Labor voters made the cost of living too high! Yep, because unions forced employers such as car manufacturers to provide ridiculous wages and benefits that in turn forced up the price of cars produced locally, making our automotive industry less competitive right from the outset. Good job, Labor and unions!

Ah AP the suppository of all knowledge you like making dumb claims with no real facts don't you.
If what you say was true then explain this
Back in the 80,s when Ford was making the "new" Capri (remember the small convertible) they sold them in Oz for around $18,000  BUT they shipped them to the US and sold them as a Mustang for around $13,000   .  That's $5000 cheaper for a fully imported Australian built car.
It shows some very serious flaws in your argument or are you saying that Ford was happy to sell at a loss?

I hope you're doing it, as well as enjoying an argument. Both your federal & state members and all your senators from your state.

And tell your friends . . .I would tell mine if I ever made any.

De-registered User wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:44am:

Unfortunately the labor government made it unaffordable for the average aussie to afford aussie products. Labor voters made the cost of living too high!

The Gillard government oversaw the smallest increase in cost of living of any Australian government for at least 25 years despite the introduction of the carbon tax, a new study has found.

Moreover, Australian households have seen real incomes - disposable income minus cost of living increases - rise 15 per cent since just after Labor took office, giving the average household a $5324 a year boost, or $102 a week.

The results of the survey by the University of Canberra's national centre for social and economic modelling go much of the way to answering the question Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has asked repeatedly throughout the election campaign: ''Are we better off than we were six years ago?''

The answer, at least in terms of family incomes, is an emphatic ''yes'' according to the centre's research.

Since Labor took power, the ''standard of living'' - the centre's term for rises in disposable income subtracted by cost of living increases - has risen 2.6 per cent a year, the exact same average annual increase as during the 11 years of the Howard government.

During the first Rudd term, the cost of living rose 3.3 per cent each year but disposable incomes were up almost 6 per cent over the same period. During Ms Gillard's term, from 2010 to June 2013 (when the latest data was available), the cost of living rose 1.6 per cent while disposable income rose 4.2 per cent.

Treasurer Chris Bowen said: "Labor's world-recognised management of the economy through the GFC has flowed through to households.''


http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/life-is-much-better-under-labor-after-all-says-study-20130830-2sw8l.html#ixzz2jLJPBGSG

bogarde73 wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:30am:

Australia's last major fruit & vegetable processor will go under unless the federal govt takes action

STRUGGLING Australian fruit processor SPC Ardmona has urgently appealed to the Coalition government to give it $25 million promised by Kevin Rudd four weeks ago or risk watching the company go broke.

SPCA chief executive Peter Kelly said that it was already "five minutes to midnight" and that the Shepparton-based business, despite being owned by giant Coca-Cola Amatil, could not keep going much longer.He said SPC, as one of the largest food processing businesses in Australia, had a much brighter future than the moribund Australian car industry and needed much less government assistance. But Mr Kelly bluntly warned yesterday that time was running out."The pain is wearing thin; if this business wasn't owned by CCA we would be shut already," a defiant Mr Kelly said."Without ($25m from government) we are in trouble; and that's not just a problem for SPC but for our people, the town, the region and the nation."

SPC will lose $25m this year, compared with the $70m annual profit it made eight years ago.In what Mr Kelly called "the most amazing waste of good food you have ever seen, SPC last year threw out $100m of fruit it bought under contract from growers -- much of it fed to pigs -- because it could not sell the resulting fruit cans due to plummeting export and domestic orders.

Worse losses are expected next year without government support, despite improved local sales by Coles, Aldi and Woolworths supermarkets which have switched to SPC Australian-grown home brands in place of cheap imports.

Mr Kelly, a former Coca-Cola Asian executive who was dropped into SPC in April in an attempt to turn it around, also slammed the failure of state and federal governments to back Australian grown food.

He queried why cheap fruit tins from China can be readily imported when they are produced under environmental and food processing standards banned in Australia.

"I'm a big supporter of the government making us the food bowl of Asia, but something is clearly not right when we can't survive because we are operating at a trade disadvantage to imports," Mr Kelly said.

"It's not just economics but about food quality; I think the time is coming when people are interested in where their food comes from because if the Chinese are prepared to put melamine in baby formula, what will they risk doing in other food categories?"Mr Kelly will meet federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane on Tuesday to plead SPC's case.

The government has not yet promised to honour the $25m pledge made to SPC four days before the federal poll by the former prime minister for assistance to help the company switch to different food production systems.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/without-a-25m-pledge-spc-risks-going-under/story-e6frg6nf-1226733234817#sthash.FbncG23K.dpuf

Armchair_Politician wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:34am:

De-registered User wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:33am: Ask our labor gov in SA how they can let this industry die in the river lands, then ask the previous fed gov how they can flood our market with cheap fruit from the America's while our growers are dumping 100s of tons. That's the ALP at work - screwing the little guy over and over.

federal govt. determines tariffs dopey .... that would be the libs,  try to keep up

De-registered User wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 7:44am:

cods wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:41am: bogarde73 wrote on Nov 1st, 2013 at 7:30am: Who wouldn't want to save SPC-Ardmona? Australia's last major fruit & vegetable processor will go under unless the federal govt takes action under emergency tariff rules allowed by the WTO and direct action in purchasing is taken by all govts. Who wouldn't want to stop the progressive destruction of 750,000 fruit trees in the Goulburn Valley in Victoria? Who wouldn't want ensure we continue to have access to processed fruit free from heavy metals and other contaminents? Go to www.meanttobegrown.com.au and send an email to your MPs and Senators. Take you less time than writing a post here. And tell your friends to do the same. thanks bogy will do... we have done so much for the car industry...and now they are demanding more.. enough will never be enough.. ::) ::) we just cannot sit back and watch this mindless destruction of our fruit and veg.industry. Coles and Woollies needd to take a good look at themselves as well..they are not blameless aussie products end up on the bottom shelf so they can promote their imported brands at eye level..they expect brands like SPC to pay extra for that privilege... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Unfortunately the labor government made it unaffordable for the average aussie to afford aussie products. Labor voters made the cost of living too high!

under labor the cost of living and inflation were kept at very low levels .... perhaps you should check the figures for Howards final 5 years and compare before talking about things you have no idea about :D :D

Don't just write letters. BUY THEIR STUFF AND USE IT.

For example, a tin of Ardmona tomatoes costs about $1.60. They are great added to pasta sauce or anything similar. The price difference is less than it costs to get to the supermarket.

If anyone else has got good recipes for using their products, post them.

Another good use for their products is food to keep in the cupboard in case of emergency. Can YOU survive for a week without access to gas or electricity? That's the reality if there's a natural disaster. Don't wait until the warnings are being broadcast. Plan ahead. During the summer, use up the old products on hot summer's days to save on the need for cooking, and buy replacements.

If everyone did this, the company would get $25 million just from sales.

Bam wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 12:50pm:

Don't just write letters. BUY THEIR STUFF AND USE IT. For example, a tin of Ardmona tomatoes costs about $1.60. They are great added to pasta sauce or anything similar. The price difference is less than it costs to get to the supermarket. They're nice straight from the tin, with some pepper & salt. If anyone else has got good recipes for using their products, post them. Another good use for their products is food to keep in the cupboard in case of emergency. I do that, whenever there's a few spare dollars I buy extra. Can YOU survive for a week without access to gas or electricity? Yes, I've done it for several months. That's the reality if there's a natural disaster. Where most people would be stuffed completely. Don't wait until the warnings are being broadcast. Plan ahead. During the summer, use up the old products on hot summer's days to save on the need for cooking, and buy replacements. If everyone did this, the company would get $25 million just from sales.

I do, Bam.

Even if it's a few cents dearer, I always try to buy Aussie grown and Aussie-made.

And AUSSIE-OWNED!

Strangely, I get ridiculed by some for doing so... work THAT one out.

Don't just write letters. BUY THEIR STUFF AND USE IT.

My fear is that won't happen quick enough. An emergency tariff is what will help immediately.

How would Coca cola need to be subsidised in Australia?

That is who now owns SPC so, in short, it is no longer Australian. Having said that, by all means, write away to both federal and state Government and, regardless of the flavour, good luck getting something out of them.

The only subsidising that should be going on is for businesses that are fully Australian owned, otherwise we are subsidising profits going out of the country. I know there will be hand wringing cries of what about all the jobs - let's face it, if the business is sooo bloody poorly run from overseas that it needs our tax money to keep locals employed, then, in short, the jobs were never secure in the first place.

I would also refute the thread title, because the small thing would ultimately be done for Coca Cola Amatil to make profits, that hardly helps the country.

Albeit the potential loss of fruit trees is sad, but, also avoidable, except they are no doubt owned by a foreign investor so also beyond our help. This is part of the joy of dealing with foreign investment in the country, once the product/service or industry is sold off, it is not up to us how it is treated, managed or on sold etc. The only thing we can do it seems, is hand over some money to ensure they keep our people in jobs and keep their business open.

We know that SPC is owned by Coke. That takeover happened years ago but doesn't change the fact that this is a hundred year-old industry and business that we need to retain, far more than we need to retain the car industry. It is also a town & region that deserves support.
As the CEO says, if it wasn't for Coke owning the business it would have folded already.
This is a line in the sand and if you're not interested in being positive it would be better if you said nothing.

The unfortunate reality is though that this forum seems to be kind of designed for people to write up a diverse range of opinions, both positive and negative.

I realise that one option when you don't like someone's opinion is to try to shut them down, but, until such time as that is forcefully put in place, you can choose not to read my comment, or, perhaps respond to all my negative stuff etc.

Perhaps another idea for this would be for people to write to Coke and plead the case with them. Or, get really active and set up a boycott of all Coke products until they take notice. There are myriad options available long before we just hand over some cash....

Or we could just focus on the "negative comments" and tell those people to be quiet...

Kat wrote on Nov 1^st, 2013 at 2:17pm:

I always try to buy Aussie grown and Aussie-made. And AUSSIE-OWNED! Strangely, I get ridiculed by some for doing so... work THAT one out.

Just IGNORE foreign IDIOTS - like Andrei_Hicks

Pick up the AusBuy Guide ...


http://www.ausbuy.com.au/typo3temp/pics/e4ff9e2c16.jpg



... from your Australian owned Coles Supermarket