With Fair Trade Fortnight kicking off in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday 28 April, there was a lot of media coverage given to fair trade in the weekend papers.

The Sydney Morning Herald & The Age had an article on the rapid increase in Fairtrade sales in Australia.

The Age also featured an article on fair trade, Fairtrade coffee, and the growth in the number of Fairtrade licensed operators.

The Australian Financial Review (p8) had an article on fair trade's foray in the mainstream with a picture of Jacqueline Arias from Republica.

The Weekend Australian ran an article featuring criticism from Australian free trade advocates claiming Fairtrade doesn't work and that free trade is the only real way to help poor farmers. See a response by Diana Gibson, Chairperson of Fairtrade Labelling Australia & New Zealand. See a response from Oxfam Australia and comments on the article / letter here. See the full Oxfam Australia letter and some links to independent research in support of the benefits of Fairtrade here.

If you have any coverage of fair trade in the media, please send it to us at web@fta.org.au.

See Media Releases here.