SHADOW agriculture and rural affairs minister Joel Fitzgibbon met with a number of Bendigo agricultural leaders during a visit on Thursday.
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Mr Fitzgibbon attended a roundtable with Bendigo food and wine manufacturers and producers, toured Balgownie Estate at Maiden Gully and met with Hazeldene's Chicken Farm representatives.
Speaking with the media before visited the Victorian Farmers Federation office in Bendigo, Mr Fitzgibbon was keen to focus on Australia's image as a "clean, green" producer of goods.
He said the Federal Government's plan to combine biosecurity into a new border security agency could threaten this image.
"We need to ensure that the experts running biosecurity and agriculture are focused on that and not being distracted by other matters in other departments," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
"I've just been to Hazledene's - they understand how important our clean green image is."
The visit was part of the Labor Party's Country Caucus, which is currently touring regional Victoria.
Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters is the secretary of the caucus.
Mr Fitzgibbon said the party could provide strong representation for regional voters.
"We've had 12 month agricultural policy hiatus in Canberra. That's 12 months we'll never get back," he said.
Ms Chesters said the Nationals "were not providing a voice for central Victoria".