Greg and Diana Parsons
P.O. Box 57
PORT VINCENT
Fax 08 88537238

Andrea Coulter
Pigmeat Safeguards Inquiry
Productivity Commission
LB2 Collins St East
Melbourne Vic 8003

Ph: 03 9653 2181
Fax: 03 9653 2302
Email address: pigmeatsafeguards@pc.gov.au
Website: www.pc.gov.au/inquiry/pigmeatsafeguards

To whom it may concern:

Submission to the Productivity Commission: Safeguards Inquiry into the Import of Pigmeat

This is a submission from Greg and Diana Parsons – Mallee Park Piggery to the Productivity Commission‘s Safeguards Inquiry into the Import of Pigmeat.  

I started to write this submission with all the technical data that everyone seems to require and due to the overwhelming sense of despair I have chosen to send the following.

My husband came home onto the family farm 34 years ago full of hope and excitement for the future. After taking over the farm he built up our 900 acres into a viable piggery (as our land holding was too small for just cereal cropping).

Over the years we have expanded to meet the demands of more pig meat required by the market and at the same became very aware that we needed to be very efficient with everything we did. Sheds that were built were designed to be economical and the feed was designed specifically for each age group of pigs. Our farm is now very efficient and proactive in every area to do with our industry.

The devastation caused by the importation of pig meat cannot be under estimated.
Our expectations have always been that we will take the good with the bad and always provide an Excellent, Clean, Safe product for Australian Consumers. This is now in jeopardy due to the importation of pork products . Not only is our health status as consumers at risk but also the health of our industry. Our pig producers are struggling to stay in the industry and it will be too late when our once viable producers have crossed that line where our local industry collapses.

We have witnessed evidence of the actions already taken by our farming enterprise to manage import pressures. We have seen comparative evidence to show that our farming enterprise is responsive to changes in the industry but despite our continued efforts to restructure our operations, imports are depressing our pig prices and impeding our ability to recover our costs of production.  It is imports which are causing serious injury to our business and without immediate provisional safeguard action, we are faced with long term irreparable damage to the future of our businesses and in turn to the Australian pork industry.

I would be happy to discuss any matters raised in my submission with the Commission, given the opportunity to do so and can be contacted on 
0407 715 366 

Yours sincerely,
Diana Parsons
Name
Mr Gregory James Parsons and
Mrs Diana Lynne Parsons
Signature
Position Owner
Company Greg and Diana Parsons
Phone 0407 715 366  and 0408 847 258
Email parsonsgd@netyp.com.au