Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This debate on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2010-2011 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2010-2011 is one of those golden opportunities that honourable members have to talk about issues of importance to their electorates. Today I want to raise the issue of the Asian honeybee. Members would have seen bee producers demonstrating in a very civilised and orderly way outside Parliament House to highlight the importance of the need to eradicate the Asian honeybee, which does threaten the honey industry in Australia.

The presence of the bee was discerned some five years ago. It is believed that the bees arrived in the hollow mast of ship and were first found and identified in 2005, while the ship was docked and undergoing repairs in Cairns in tropical North Queensland. Another hive of the bees was found two years later, in 2007, in a drum not far away from the first location. Asian bees are highly dominant, and the fear is that they will take over the habitats of local native bees and cause great damage to local bee populations. Asian bees also carry disease. They are a hardy intruder and attempts to eradicate them in other countries have not been successful.

The beekeeping industry in Australia believes it can eradicate the problem in this country with the correct support and enough government funding. Beekeepers across Australia, including in my electorate of Fisher—I have been discussing this matter with Dr Max Whitten, a beekeeper—are greatly concerned because this menace has the potential to impact on their industry and affect not only honey production but also the natural and vital pollination of other crops, fruits, vegetables and other plants. Bees are not only about honey; in fact, that is a relatively small part of what they do. They are a key part of the ecological network and play a vital role in the reproduction of plants everywhere. They need to be supported and assisted to ensure their population survives and thrives. Without our bees our agriculture and horticulture industries would be much worse off and probably would risk complete collapse, and much of the pollination of our native plants would not occur.

A government funding program designed to address the issue has come to its end, unfortunately, and apiarists are campaigning for the government to launch a new campaign to continue the fight against this exotic intruder. Beekeepers are visiting Canberra this week to draw attention to the issue and have met with the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the honourable member for Calare. I recognise the concerns of those who are dependent on bees and also the difficulties in devising a program that will effectively address the issue of the Asian bee invasion. I ask the government to do all that it can through the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to support ongoing attempts to eradicate the Asian bee from Australia.

I now turn to the plight of a cooperative in Maleny in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and the shameful waste of money by the Queensland Labor government’s health department. A small yet thriving store, Maple Street Co-operative on the Sunshine Coast was recently taken to court over the sale of unpasteurised milk allegedly for human consumption. The raw milk was actually being sold as bath milk—known as ‘Cleopatra’s milk’—and was clearly labelled as unsuitable for drinking. After a complaint from a resident, a plainclothes Queensland Health officer entered the store and found that the unpasteurised milk was displayed in the same fridge as their organic pasteurised milk. The sale of unpasteurised, or raw, milk is prohibited under the Food Production (Safety) Act 2000 of Queensland; however, this milk was being sold for cosmetic or bathing purposes only. Queensland Health and Queensland Health’s computer system saw lots of Queensland Health workers either not being paid, being underpaid or being overpaid, and this has gone on for months and months. They have got their priorities wrong in a battle with this locally owned Sunshine Coast cooperative. Due to the investigation, the co-op has decided to no longer stock this product.

After two years, on 22 October 2010 the magistrate in the prosecution launched by Queensland Health announced its decision. Unfortunately, the Maple Street Co-operative was fined $2,500 plus $71.50 for court fees, payable within four months.

See this speech in context