AUSTRALIA'S STRAWBERRY TERRORISM

THE TAINTING of supermarket strawberries with sewing needles is comparable to ''terrorism''  Australia's prime minister said Wednesday, as he demanded tougher sentencing in response to nationwide scare.

Urging Australians to make a strawberry pavlova this weekend to help struggling farmers, Scott Morrison, demanded a change in the ;law to put the perpetrators after at least 15 years.

''We're not mucking about'' said Morrison, after at least 20 pieces of fruit were found to be contaminated with needles or pins. ''This is not on, this is just not in this country,'' he said.

Calling the perpetrator a ''coward and a grub'', Morrison called on parliament to quickly raise the maximum sentence for such deliberate food contamination from 10 to 15 years behind bars.

That, he said, would put the crime on par with  ''things like possessing child pornography and financing terrorism. That's how seriously I take this.''

The scare has prompted a slew of supermarket recalls, and some stores in New Zealand have temporarily banned the sale of Australian strawberries.

Farmers have been forced to pulp fruit and and layoff pickers because of slower sales and lower wholesale prices.

''Just go back to buying strawberries like you used to, and take the precautions that you should,'' Morrison told the Australians in a televised address.

''Make a pay this weekend and put strawberries on it,'' he suggested.

Australian police on Tuesday said they still did not know the motive behind the attacks and were still looking for suspects.

They have asked the public for help with their investigation and are expected later Wednesday to increase a reward for information that helps resolve the case. [Agencies]