Not all can be positive about the Land Down Under. One negative that Ania and I both discovered here is rampant protectionism.
We first noticed that one cannot buy wines from the United States or France here. If these wines are sold in Australia, they are surely very hard to find as Ania and I never managed to find any in the liquor shops we visited in Eastern Australia. But we never made a fuss about it.
It is in Western Australia that we realized the full extent of protectionism in this country. On a major broadcast station we heard a talk-show host discuss the crisis in the State of Queensland and how the destruction of fruit had resulted in the importation of fruits from China. The host was up in arms against the idea as he explained that “I would never buy an orange from Florida because it would just feel wrong”.
I was stunned. The whole show was about denouncing the importation of fruits and vegetables as apparently they are not “safe” and do not respect the high standards of Australian fruits and veggies (a Western Australia newspaper ran a front-page article that discussed how importing fruits and veggies from China would bring pests and diseases into the country). Even supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths bowed to pressure and publicly announced that they would not import fruits and veggies from China.
With such practices how did Australia ever get allowed into the World Trade Organization?
China bashing is popular. The irony is that Australia became a rich country in large part because China buys up all its resources. Australia is happy to sell its resources to China, but complains when China wants to sell its own goods in the country. World trade is a two-way street.
Suddenly Australian wines don’t taste that good anymore.
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