GST removal not the way to reduce vegetable costs

However, he told Hort News the idea of taking GST off vegetables has been raised before and while he hasn't looked at the latest proposal, people who have run the numbers on the concept before say it's not worth it.

As the biggest fresh vegetable grower in the East Coast region and a major employer, Burke says his company is supportive of anything that can create a more competitive fresh vegetable market because it will result in an uplift in health for the nation.

"A lot of the cost of providing fresh vegetables is in the logistics and delivery," he told Hort News. "I feel that if we improved out infrastructure around the country, then a lot of the cost of fresh product would be reduced."

Burke also believes efficiency in production is another factor and is hopeful of seeing changes, like having a more streamlined system of compliance to reduce the multiple inputting of data which is time consuming and costly.

"Changes in this area and more resilient infrastructure would make a huge difference."

In terms of the cyclone recovery, Burke says while there was a lot of action at the start, it now appears to have slowed down. He says in farming circles there is a lot of talk about what is happening and there's not a lot of clarity.

"Getting accurate information has been a challenge," he told Hort News.

"Clarity around what is going to happen is important so that people can move on because, when you don't know, it's the hardest thing. If you do know and it's not what you want to hear, then at least you can plan for it."