Independent Senator Nick Xenophon is planning a private member's bill to protect Australian apple growers from what he has called the 'herpes of fruit'.
Biosecurity Australia has just approved importation of apples from New Zealand despite growers protesting about the risk of fire blight entering Australia.
The growers are concerned the bacterial disease in some New Zealand apples could devastate Australian orchards.
Senator Xenophon says his bill will be based on scientific evidence and will be compliant with World Trade Organisation rules.
"Once fire blight comes in, you can never get rid of it," he said.
"Australia will lose its clean, green, disease-free status once and for all.
"Fire blight is like the herpes of fruit, once you get it, you can never get rid of it, it just keeps coming back and back." In South Australia, the Government will impose a quarantine zone around Adelaide Hills apple and pear orchards.
The state's Agriculture Minister, Michael O'Brien, says quarantine laws are similar to those used to combat fruit fly outbreaks.
Mr O'Brien says sale of New Zealand apples also would be banned at supermarkets in the Adelaide Hills.
The minister has pledged to support marketing campaigns to encourage consumers to buy South Australian produce.
The Riverland horticultural industry near the border with Victoria and New South Wales already has protection because the quarantine laws prevent the transportation of fruit into the region.
