TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER and MEMBERS of the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THIS PETITION of certain citizens of Australia draws to the attention of the House that: MILK – the food – has been fundamental to human nutrition and health for millennia. The domestication of cattle, sheep, goats and other mammals has given us a unique partnership. We draw sustenance from it every day. We drink fresh milk and cream. We eat butter and cheese. Milk is at the very heart of human life. When skilfully made, ripening and maturing at its own pace, and developing flavours and textures of complexity and length, cheese retains the distinctive qualities of the milk used in its making. Cheese expresses diversity through seasonal and local characteristics, and the art of its maker, like no other food. Government regulates the food we eat. Most of the Australian cheese we eat today is sanitised and uniform. Science is being used to limit choice. We cannot make and market Australian raw milk cheese. We cannot taste it. We are denied the experience of the unique characteristics of this primary food. Australians want food that is good, clean and fair. We want safe cheese. We want properly labelled cheese. We want cheese that will not imperil human health, nor imperil our environment. We simply want the right to choose Australian raw milk cheese. We ask the House to liberate our cheesemakers, not to harness them. We ask the House to encourage diversity, build skills and knowledge, and return opportunity to Australia’s rural heartland. We ask the House to allow Australian dairies to make and market raw milk cheese of quality. Enable us to choose. DECLARATION We support Slow Food in its defence of Australian raw milk cheese. We call on Food Standards Australia New Zealand to enable: - Australian artisan cheesemakers to make and market Australian raw milk cheese of quality - consumers - 'co-producers' - to choose and eat Australian raw milk cheese of quality - the development and enforcement of affordable safety and labelling laws and regulations that maintain Australia's integrity as a 'clean food' nation We also acknowledge that Slow Food in Australia will support the development of an Australian raw milk cheese Slow Food praesidium to: - enable artisan cheesemakers to acquire the skills and processes to produce Australian raw milk cheese of quality that is suitable for human enjoyment and nourishment, and - encourage public awareness of Australian raw milk cheese, its culture and contribution to rural development and market choice [This petition should be signed only by Australian residents]