Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Tasmania's largest rural electorate, I take a keen interest in the matters the member for Mallee has brought forward today. Before any agricultural and veterinary products can be sold or used in Australia, they are evaluated and registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, APVMA, an independent regulatory body responsible for ensuring the safety, efficacy and environmental impact of such products—including paraquat and diquat.

Paraquat and diquat are widely used herbicides in grain and horticulture farming. The APVMA recently reviewed paraquat and has proposed removing support for certain high-rate uses, due to its potential as an environmental risk and insufficient mitigation of acute poisoning risks. The APVMA's proposed decision released on 30 July sets out which uses of paraquat can remain acceptable—specifically, at lower rates and early in the season. These proposed restrictions align with best practice to protect our environment and, importantly, our users, who, of course, are our farmers.

The APVMA examined a wide range of epidemiological studies, including concerns about paraquat's potential link to Parkinson's disease, which of course was the subject of the ABC report that the member for Mallee refers to. After thorough evaluation, both the APVMA and the United States Environmental Protection Agency have found no robust association between paraquat exposure and Parkinson's, reassuring the public that these findings are grounded in scientific evidence.

It's important to note that the APVMA operates as an independent body. Its decisions are based on evidence. Government officials and elected representatives cannot and should not seek to influence such regulatory decisions, which are founded in science.

While we're speaking about the APVMA, I'm going to take the opportunity to highlight some of the systemic challenges that it has faced as an organisation in recent years. A 2023 review found that some chemical reviews by the organisation had taken decades to resolve. The roots of those delays can be traced back to the decisions of the former Liberal-National government. Of course there was also the forced move of APVMA in 2016 to the city of Armidale in the electorate of New England, the seat of the then agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce. This move significantly disrupted APVMA's operations and led to severe staffing upheaval, including a shortage of technical experts, and a decline in regulatory efficiency and quality, as highlighted in both the 2019 Independent Review of the Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Regulatory System in Australia and the 2023 review. Despite these findings, the former government failed to act. It sat on critical reports, allowing inefficiencies and staffing shortages to persist. The combination of the upheaval of the forced relocation and the delayed response to the impacts smashed the APVMA's ability to fulfil its purpose. It has been left to the Albanese government to pick up the pieces and fix the mess left behind by a decade of Liberal and National incompetence and neglect, and that's a familiar refrain across so many portfolios.

In April, the Albanese government outlined our preliminary response to the rapid evaluation of the APVMA, detailing the reforms necessary to restore confidence in this essential regulator. A critical step was the appointment of Scott Hansen as new board chair and CEO in July, installing the experienced leadership needed to make the APVMA a world-class chemical regulator. We have removed the requirement for APVMA staff to be based at Armidale, allowing the organisation to recruit based on expertise rather than geography. This change improves operational efficiency and enhances the agency's ability to fulfil its regulatory responsibilities. And let's be clear. For the record, the APVMA's role is to regulate the sector across all of Australia, not to shore up a local jobs message for the member for New England in a city in his electorate. Throughout the reform process, the APVMA will continue to exercise its regulatory powers to address outstanding chemical reviews and will keep the minister informed with regular updates.

The member for Mallee had a bit of a sledge at the ABC. I reject that entirely. I don't agree with everything the ABC does, but I respect its right to act independently and make its own editorial judgements.

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