Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's encouraging to see the member for Mallee's wholehearted support for the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, and to see the member for Riverina also giving support for it. I commend their stance, but it is a little bit surprising given the record of the coalition when it comes to this independent arm's-length regulator.

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, was established in 1993 to centralise the registration of all agricultural and veterinary chemical products in the Australian marketplace. The chemical registration process rests on a rigorous scientific evaluation of the safety and efficacy of a chemical to protect the health and safety of people, animals, the environment and trading relationships—scientists serving the nation, scientists saving lives, scientists doing science. Billy Hughes was still a Labor PM when he set up the precursor to the CSIRO way back in 1916. He did go on to serve five other parties, but, I note, never the National Party. The Labor Party has always had that strong connection with the bush and with science. We believe that it's vital to value and uphold the role of all independent agencies, especially scientific ones.

You don't want politicians making scientific decisions. This means letting them get on with their job of interpreting the science without undue influence and then listening to their expert findings. The APVMA is no different, and the Albanese government is taking steps to bolster confidence in it after years of some, frankly, quite bizarre interference under the coalition government. First, there was the ill-thought-out and ill-planned move of the APVMA to Armadale in the electorate of New England. This measure was designed and implemented by the member for New England for his own bizarre personal reasons. First, he ordered a cost-benefit analysis of the move. Then he decided to ignore that process. He did not wait for the report or consult industry, and then he moved the APVMA anyway. In fact, there was intense industry opposition to this move, led by the National Farmers Federation and CropLife. Surprise, surprise—the National Party member ignoring the farmers! Maybe because he was an accountant, I don't know. When the cost benefit analysis was finally released—

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