Nowhere to hide: Govt must make public imported peanut results
8 July 2026: North Queensland Member for Kennedy Bob Katter has demanded the Federal
Agriculture Minister make public the “deeply concerning” findings of Government investigations
into imported peanuts for Australian farmers “who every right to know whether their industry has
been exposed to a biosecurity threat”.
After meeting with the Federal Minister in Canberra last week, Mr Katter has formally requested in
writing the Department of Agriculture’s full transparency on the results of investigations, alongside
an immediate halt to peanut imports where Australia's biosecurity cannot be guaranteed.
"Australia has strict biosecurity rules for a reason. They exist to stop dangerous pests and diseases
getting into this country before they destroy Australian agriculture," said Mr Katter.
"However, having been advised by the Minister last week of intensive investigations into imported
peanuts – including the germination testing of particular significance – my office has now received
evidence confirming germination of the samples collected for laboratory testing… which raises very
serious questions because if peanuts can germinate, they are raw.”
Mr Katter said the results indicating germination in all peanut varieties tested had raised fears
imported peanuts are not undergoing necessary processing to eliminate raw biosecurity threats.
"The Australian peanut industry is rightly worried about diseases that simply do not exist here –
such as the devastating peanut smut in overseas crops which, once established, slashes yields by up
to 75 per cent. Once these diseases are in Australian soil, there’s no magic wand to get rid of them."
Mr Katter said reports the imported raw peanuts were being offered for sale nationwide reflected
the extent of the potential national biosecurity risk “that we've seen again and again and again...
We warned governments not to allow imported prawns because white spot disease would get in.
We were ignored, and white spot came in. We warned about citrus canker. We warned about black
sigatoka. We warned about papaya fruit fly. We warned about Panama disease.
“If you believe governments have the best interest of Australian farmers at heart, then you believe
in the tooth fairy – while they continue to gamble with Australia's biosecurity and food security to
look after their precious ‘free’ trade agreements.”
Mr Katter said where there was genuine uncertainty about whether imported peanuts complied
with Australia's biosecurity requirements, “they should not be coming into this country until that
uncertainty is resolved. You don't wait until the disease arrives, before you lock the gate."
ENDS
