Chief Advocate, Rachel Mackenzie, said the discussion from a number of politicians and finance sector commentators about what could be done to modernise the tax system had included a suggestion in recent days to model the New Zealand approach with 15 per cent GST on a broader base which included fresh food.

“Growcom is concerned about the negative effect this would have on consumer behaviour,” she said. “In an environment where people are already complaining about the cost of fresh produce in the supermarket, adding a 10-15 per cent GST would do little to encourage people to eat the beautiful fresh produce we grow in this state.”

Mackenzie said Growcom had worked with Diabetes Queensland and the Queensland Government on the Live Well Farm Well project over the past two years to introduce wellness programs to farms and understood at first hand the problems of growing rates of chronic disease in regional areas.

“We know that people in regional areas like the Cassowary Coast with almost 60 per cent of residents in an unhealthy weight range are particularly at risk of chronic disease. Obesity is behind much of the prevalence of diseases such as stroke, hypertension, heart attack, some cancers and a rapid escalation of Type 2 diabetes. Queensland is now the ‘heaviest’ state in Australia and on current trends about three million Queenslanders will be overweight or obese by 2020 with huge ramifications for future health budgets.

“Horticulture growers are producing part of the solution to this problem yet the Health of Queensland report in 2014 found that only 7 per cent of Queenslanders are currently eating the recommended daily serves of vegetables for good health.

“Governments should be working to improve access to healthy options like fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly for low income earners in regional areas, for better health outcomes.

“Of particular concern to us is the Healthy Food Access Basket Survey 2014 results released by Queensland Health on Friday which showed that:

• Eating as recommended by the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (including five serves of vegetables and two of fruit) costs about $15 more per person per week.
• The average cost of the basket for a family of six in Queensland was $652.10. This is $176.54 (37%) more than the cost of the original basket in 2014.
• The basket costs approximately 27 per cent more in very remote communities and approximately 16 per cent more in remote towns compared to major cities.
• Households on very low incomes need to spend up to 25 per cent of income to follow the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.*

“The last thing that we need is for the GST to drive up the cost of fruit and vegetables further by another 10-15 per cent on top of current prices,” Mackenzie said. “Adding a GST on fruit and vegetables does not sound like a sensible approach to solving the community’s health problems.”

She said that the introduction of a GST could also add to the administrative cost burden placed on farms through changes to accounting practices and necessary staff training. Moreover she expected that any costs associated with administering a GST by the supermarkets would be passed back to the grower, as has been the case with changes to marketing and promotion programs in recent times.

*The Healthy Food Access Basket Survey 2014 results were released on the Queensland Health website: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/research-reports/reports/food/access/default.asp. The survey measured the cost and availability of a standard basket of healthy food items in 78 locations across Queensland.