And there is plenty of imported produce here, just that it doesn’t include bananas.
I have some American oranges in my refrigerator at the moment. I bought them yesterday. Two of the three types of oranges in the supermarket had (very tiny) “produce of USA” stickers on them, and the third variety didn’t have any label at all, but they were more expensive, and didn’t look very good.
It’s a bit of a contentious issue here, but then again I just wanted some oranges. 
Firstly, as Princhester points out, Australia has very strict quarantine laws, and is not about to risk the country’s excellent record on this issue to save a few cents on some bananas. Australia has, through its strict quarantine regulations, managed to avoid anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, mad cow, rabies, and dozens of other diseases that would not only pose a threat to the health of its citizens, but could devastate local agriculture. Keeping these diseases out is worth far more, in pure economic terms, to Australian shoppers than the benefits of a small drop in the price of bananas, to say nothing of the health and safety implications.
Also, your analysis relies on the patently ridiculous assumption that bananas should cost the same in every country. Economies of scale, distance of markets, and a hundred other factors means that there’s no guarantee, even with completely free and open markets, that bananas would cost the same amount in Australia as they do in the United States.
Did it ever occur to you that the citizens of Australia might be happy paying a few cents more per banana in order to ensure that the people who pick those bananas can earn a living wage?
It is. What’s your point?
Well, when Australian consumers want your advice about what they need, i’m sure they’ll give you a call.
By the way, if you’re so concerned about free trade, maybe you could get your own house in order first. Australian and New Zealand lamb producers have, for years, been trying to obtain free and open access to the US market, but have been constantly thwarted by the protection offered to US lamb growers in the form of direct subsidies and import quotas and tariffs.
They’re fairly significant conclusions to reach based on a sample of **one ** price. I just asked around the office. Others report being able to buy bananas at prices ranging between $1.75 and $3.00 per kilo a couple of days ago.
So, if I’m following the drift of this thread correctly, we’re saying the reason New Orleans was devastated was cheap bananas prices.
Um, fellow Aussies, ahhh, I think we DO import bananas (at least sometimes). At my local Safeway last year, the bananas had the now mandatory cover sign that indicated they had been imported from Malaysia. 
I buy the half-rotten cheapie ones at the local greengrocer now.
I’m happy to be corrected if that’s the case kambuckta. I’ve been going on what the newspapers have been saying in the wake of cyclone Larry:
{Bolded alterations are mine: US trade tariffs and politically-motivated protectionism and subsidies are notorious overseas. Still, your country, your rules.}
Unfortunately not.
When I did the shopping at woolies in Salisbury (south australia) last week, bananas were going for about $1.98/kg…
Really? I was under the impression that this was the case.
Is anthrax a recent arrival, or was i misinformed by my high school agriculture teacher?
I’m just going on what I personally saw in my local supermarket last year (or it might have even been the year before) and the import/legality situation might well have changed in the meantime of course.
I was just struck at the time about WHY the hell we were importing bananas when we had such a wonderful source of them here in our own country. IIRC though, it WAS during a period when the local bananas went up astronomically in price (I can’t remember why that was unfortunately).
If someone can correct and/or enlighten me, I would appreciate it.
Been here for over 150 years…
Well, there ya go! Thanks.
I’m going to have to track down that agriculture teacher and correct him. He’s probably retired by now.
Umm, you do realise that Australia is home to several endemic species of banana, right? And with that in mind you would have conducted an EIS to determine the likely consequences of your proposal to relax quarantine, right?
After all the absolute worst that could happen would be a few dozen species of animals and plants becoming extinct. That’s easily worth it to save a few cents on fresh fruit, right?
kambuckta…i think in qld at the very least you can’t import bananas…down south it might be different because there are none grown there. In qld you can’t even transport banana plants from brisbane to gympie, i don’t know about bananas themselves though
There are a lot of bananas grown on the north coast of New South Wales – there’s even a Big Banana at Coffs Harbour – not itself a banana, since it’s made of concrete, but surrounded by banana plantations.
As has already been said, Australia is particularly sensitive to the introduction of competing species and so has strict quarantines that work very well. I couldn’t even take mangos from Darwin to Perth (crossing state borders) when I was there. (Well, I wasn’t supposed to, but I did - my flatmate in Perth needed a fix from her parents’ mango trees, and I was going to Darwin…)
Why do you think that paying a little more for something is such a bad thing, Mangosteen? I’d be more than happy to pay more for produce if it guaranteed real living wages. Same goes for restaurants and tipping and such - I’d pay more for food if it meant my server was being paid correctly so that tipping wasn’t needed. Just because something’s done differently somewhere else doesn’t mean it’s bad or wrong. Indeed, I tire of the idea that Americans want to pay the absolute, rock bottom lowest price, then complain about quality or job loss.
Look at the bright side. There’s unlimited opportunity for you as an international banana smuggler.
I thought you said the quarantines work really well?
Seriously, did you think it didn’t apply to you or something because you were doing a favour for your flat mate?
Meant to add:
You can’t even take an old fruit box across from the Northern Territory to Western Australia, let alone actual fruit.