The strawberry contamination scare that has plagued Australia’s farmers in recent weeks has resulted in thousands of tonnes of the fruit being disposed of across the country.

During the past week alone, needles and pins have been found mainly in strawberries, but also in bananas, apples and mangoes.

“The criminal acts that we’ve been witnessing over the last week or two have the potential to destroy the industry,” Mr Gee said.

“They have no regard to fellow Australians … doing this is not a joke and it could easily cause the death of someone.”

During an afternoon tea filled with strawberry treats that Mr Gee held in his Bathurst electorate office on Friday he encouraged people to continue buying the fruit.

“We can’t let the criminals win and Australian produce is the best in the world,” he said.

“We’ve got to support our Aussie farmers because if we don’t the criminals win.

“We as a community are not going to tolerate this.”