The Morrison Government announced a tougher criminal penalty for the contamination of food as a response to the ongoing strawberry needle crisis. 

The maximum jail time will be raised from 10 to 15 years to emphasise the seriousness of this issue and to deter copycats. 

“Someone who has an offence for forgery or theft of Commonwealth property, they currently get 10 years. That’s what you get 10 years for. What you get 15 years for is things like possessing child pornography and financing terrorism,” Mr Morrison said. “That’s how seriously our government takes it.” 

So far, contaminated strawberries have been found in five states, with more than 100 people reporting it in. 

More than 100 police are involved in the ongoing investigation and the West Australian Government has offered a $100,000 reward for information. 

“It’s not a joke, it’s not funny,” Mr Morrison said. “You are putting the livelihoods of hard-working Australians at risk and you are scaring children, and you are a coward and a grub.”

“Some idiot, for his own reasons, has engaged in an act of sabotage it would seem, and that has put all of that risk for these people out there having a go,” he added. 

According to Federal Minister for Regional Services Bridge McKenzie, $1 million have been invested to assist in this issue around food safety and the contamination of strawberries.  

“We are wanting to see more food safety officials on the ground to work with our state and territory counterparts to make sure when they request a recall, that we fast-track that and that we’re absolutely investing in increased methods of detection,” Ms McKenzie said.