Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Primary Industries and Resources, I present the committee’s report entitled More than honey: the future of the Australian honey bee and pollination industries, together with the minutes of proceedings.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Primary Industries and Resources, I have the pleasure of presenting this report. This report addresses a matter of great importance to the future of Australia. The Australian honey bee industry is a small but vital component of the Australian economy. While the production of honey and other bee products represent only $8 million per annum in gross value of production, the value of honey bees as pollinators to agriculture production is reckoned in terms of billions of dollars. Clearly, therefore, the prospects of the honey bee industry, the producers of honey bee products and the providers of managed pollination services are of vital interest to other primary producers, governments of all levels and the Australian community as a whole. It might be an exaggeration to say ‘no bees, no food’, but the food security and economic welfare of the entire community depend to a considerable degree on the humble honey bee.

Yet the Australian honey bee industry faces a number of significant threats and challenges. A major challenge is resource security. The honey bee industry is dependent upon native forest for honey production and recovery from pollination operations. Without access to floral resources, the potential of the honey bee industry to grow to meet the demands for crop pollination is compromised. The committee has made a number of recommendations which, if implemented, will provide resource security for the honey bee industry and pollination dependent industries into the future.

This is especially important in the face of the biosecurity threats facing the industry. The potential for pests such as varroa destructor to annihilate feral bee populations and decimate managed bees is real. Keeping such pests and diseases from Australian shores should be a priority for governments and industry. Investment in border security measures and research is vital. The committee strongly recommends the creation of a new honey bee quarantine facility and increased funding for the National Sentinel Hive program.

The honey bee industry is also being challenged by declining profitability. The industry must modernise to provide paid pollination services. Yet, for paid pollination services to be viable, the honey production sector must also be viable. Import competition is having a significant impact upon returns to Australian honey producers, but much of this competition derives from low-cost countries with poor quality control regimes. Australian exporters on the other hand often face a range of tariff and non-tariff barriers in accessing overseas markets. Clearly, there is no level playing field. In addition, lax labelling laws have allowed foreign honey to be ‘re-badged’, with serious implications for the reputation of Australian honey.

Protecting the industry from biosecurity threats and preparing it for the future is a significant undertaking. In this vein, the committee acknowledges the work of government and industry in creating Pollination Australia, an organisation designed to provide funding and leadership for Australia’s pollination providers and users into the future. Nonetheless, the committee believes that there is greater scope still for the promotion of research extension and training for the Australian honey bee industry and related industries. With this in view, the committee has recommended that the Australian government commit $50 million per annum in pursuit of biosecurity measures and research in support of the honey bee industry.

I would like to express, on behalf of the committee, our gratitude to all those who participated in the inquiry and to the staff of the secretariat, Janet Holmes and Bill Pender, and also to the member for Hume, my deputy chair, Alby Schultz, for all the work that he put into this report. On behalf of the committee I commend the report to the House.

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