Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Our magnificent island continent is both a blessing and a challenge when it comes to biosecurity, and biosecurity is pivotal. Our flora and fauna are often decimated, and our agricultural and farming industries must be free from exotic pests, weeds and diseases. Our communities must be kept safe, and, all importantly, our economy relies on it. In my electorate of Paterson more than 3½ thousand workers have direct employment through agriculture. There are over 1,000 farms in the Hunter that depend on strong biosecurity to survive and prosper. We take it very seriously because $400 million worth of agricultural production every year is attributed to the Hunter region through cattle, poultry, dairy and, of course, our magnificent wine industry. It is so important, and that is why I am indeed very privileged and honoured to be the chair of the agriculture committee in this place. I am also involved with Parliamentary Friends of Primary Producers as the co-chair and am co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil and the Parliamentary Friends of Viticulture. I also meet regularly with a range of organisations to make sure that I am right across the brief when it comes to agriculture and biosecurity.

I focus on these industries to ensure that my electorate has someone who is able to represent the community's interests effectively, and that is why I really sincerely welcome the $1 billion—with a B—investment in biosecurity that my friend and colleague Minister Murray Watt delivered in the May budget. It is absolutely essential that we stay on top of biosecurity, and for the first time an Australian government has actually locked in permanent, secure and sustainable funding for our critical biosecurity infrastructure. I hear from my colleagues across the aisle that in previous years the coalition was 'gonna, shoulda and woulda' in doing all these things, but the reality is that they didn't do anything. Not once did the Nationals or the member for New England or Senator Bridget McKenzie secure such important funding and such a large pool of funding as the funding that Minister Watt has been able to secure. In fact, they watched as their Liberal colleagues cut biosecurity funding by more than $100 million a year, but they have the temerity to come into this place and say, 'Oh, what are you doing having a levy on biosecurity?' Farmers in Australia I have spoken to have welcomed the levy because they know it is so important to their businesses and our economy.

I am proud to be a member of the Albanese government, which is delivering on its election commitments to provide long-term, sustainable funding for biosecurity. And, while we are talking about biosecurity, it is so important to actually deliver that—not just talk about it, but make sure it happens on the ground, as we demonstrated as soon as we took government. We did have that threat of risk coming in from abroad, with things like lumpy skin disease. We got the mats rolled out at the airport. We did the job. We delivered biosecurity that kept this nation safe and kept our farms functioning as they should.

I am very proud to be part of a government that also delivers for my community things like an MRI licence at the new, local Maitland Hospital. We're fast-tracking the works on the M1, and I thank the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, who joins us today in the chamber, for that. This is a government that delivers. We don't just promise; we get things done, and that's where the rubber hits the road for our Australian agricultural industry.

I want to make Australia better for the people of my electorate. Biosecurity might not sound very sexy, but it's very much on the minds of people in my community. Every single person in my electorate—in fact, in the country—can suffer grave consequences, both financially and through food security, if our import biosecurity measures fail us. Minister Watt has found a long-term solution to ensure that significant biosecurity risks are kept to a minimum. I welcome an update from the minister on how the budget delivers on Labor's election commitment to deliver long-term, sustainable funding for biosecurity to keep all Australians safe and, most importantly and pivotally, to keep our agricultural industry not only growing but also thriving.

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