NZ apple growers took their protest to Parliament last month

NZ apple growers took their protest to Parliament last month

New Zealand’s apple growers have started asking their politicians to sign a charter promising to take Australia to the World Trade Organisation disputes tribunal over access for their fruit to the trans-Tasman market.

The National Party will be the first to sign up on Thursday when party leader Don Brash visits growers in Hawkes Bay.

Australian Apple Action Group spokesman Rupert Ryan criticised his country’s Labour government action saying that it had only managed to put the issue on WTO committee agendas.

“To resolve this we need Australia to be taken to a full WTO disputes tribunal and we applaud National for supporting New Zealand growers and promising to do what Labour has so far failed to do,” said Ryan.