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Bushtucker harvest sparks controversy

Friday, 31 January  2003 

Presenter: Vanessa Mills

The Gubinge (also called Billygoat or Kakadu Plum) is a tart little nugget packed full of vitamin C. Its latin name is Terminalia Ferdinandiana.

Gubinge fruit exported interstate

The native bush around Broome has been buzzing with activity in the past couple of weeks... in fact, you’ll see flocks of people clutching plastic bags while perched in trees.

They’re collecting a fruit that’s reputed to be the world’s richest natural source of vitamin C, some 50 times more than oranges.

This is the Gubinge, or billygoat plum, which is in the flush of its season right now. The Gubinge is a tart green nugget of a fruit, which has been a food source for aboriginals across the north for centuries.

However, the WA Conservation Department is investigating reports that large quantities of Gubinge between Broome and one arm point on the Dampier Peninsula, are being picked illegally for a commercial operation.

Gourmet food shops and pharmacuetical companies are believed to be buying the native fruit.

The ABC understands a local operator may be breaching its licence by paying cash in hand for kilos of the fruit… and also that quantities of gubinge collected were dumped because it was poor quality.

The maximum penalty for taking protected flora without a license is four thousand dollars.

Max Goodwin is a specialist in Kimberley native plants, which he has been growing for 12 years in Broome.

He says Gubinge is much sought after.

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Last Updated: 28/07/2003 3:19:21 PM AWST

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