Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, visited Swickers and Proteco Oils in Kingaroy on Friday 24th, along with Deb Frecklington, Member for Nanango.
“I enjoyed my visit to Swickers pork abattoir to talk with pork producers and to see first-hand the processing of pork meat and the new value add products at the recently opened processing facility.
Swickers has been open since 1941 and processes up to 19,000 pigs a week for domestic consumption and for export. The company is the largest employer of staff in the region and this creates prosperity for the town.
“The Australian Government strongly supports the pork industry in Australia—we’ve got more than 1800 pork farms across this nation and the industry employs more than 20,000 people Australia-wide.
“Nine out of ten Australians eat pork, and each year Australians consume around 25kgs of pork per person. I believe all Australians can feel proud of the pork industry—it operates responsibly and ethically in the production of nutritious and affordable food.
“The next was Proteco Oils, a major Australian cold pressed oil company, that makes a wide range of nut oils and a range of nut spreads such as peanut and macadamia butter.
“While Kingaroy is known as the ‘peanut capital of Australia’, the work of Proteco is further strengthening its reputation as a ‘nut capital’.
“The nut industry in Australia is a growth industry, overall there are about 897 macadamia farmers across Australia.
“Both these businesses, Swickers and Proteco, are great examples of working across the supply-chain and value-adding to products to get better returns at the farmgate for our farmers.
The Australian Government’s Agricultural Competitiveness Green Paper was released this week with 25 diverse policy ideas to drive improved profitability and productivity in our primary industries and make regional Queensland stronger and more prosperous. To have your say please visit https://agriculturalcompetitiveness.dpmc.gov.au/.
Photo: Minister Joyce during his visit to Swickers Bacon Factory in Kingaroy.
