Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak on the Biosecurity Amendment (Ballast Water and Other Measures) Bill. Beautiful Moreton Bay is an important part of the electorate of Petrie, a haven for boaties, a playground for kite surfers, sailboarders, jetskiers, snorkellers and tourists. I would suggest Moreton Bay is one of the reasons Redcliffe has just been named as one of the top five movers and shakers when it comes to Easter tourism in Queensland. Off the coast lies Moreton Island and the iconic Tangalooma Wrecks—15 boats sunk in the 1960s to form a breakwall for small boats, in response to calls for a safe anchorage. The wrecks have become a popular dive spot and play host to wobbegongs, kingfish, lion fish and trevally, and the surrounding turquoise waters are a popular tourist attraction. The tops were recently cut off the wrecks as a safety precaution, but there is a groundswell of support for re-wrecking the wrecks, and a campaign—More Wrecks for Moreton—to sink more boats at the site has been started on Facebook. The Redcliffe Surf Life Saving Club is tucked into the northern corner of Suttons Beach. A local favourite and destination for weekend visitors, it is about to be filled to capacity for the annual Festival of Sails event over Easter.

I am definitely biased in believing the waters of Moreton Bay are pretty special, but I know I am not alone in having a soft spot for the area. As much as the bay is about beauty and tourism, it also provides a living for many. The Moreton Bay region comprises only three per cent of Queensland's coastline, yet it produces around 15 per cent of the state's commercial catch, including prawns. Australia's prawn industry produces approximately 25,000 tonnes per year, with an estimated value of $358 million. When white spot disease was first detected in prawn farms on the Logan River, south of Brisbane, teams on prawn trawlers in my electorate all held their breath. Unfortunately their worst fears were confirmed just last month, when the virus that causes white spot disease was found in prawns collected from the northern waters of Moreton Bay. A movement control order for the Moreton Bay region is currently in effect and will be in place for three months to allow containment of any potential spread of the virus as well as further testing and determination with regard to future action.

I welcome the concern and action of this government and particularly the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce. Upon discovery of the virus I know that both his department and the state authorities began working around the clock to contain and eradicate the disease and to save our valuable prawn-farming industry, because we have one of the best industries in the world and we must maintain that. The coalition government is providing rapid response funding, bolstered by the coalition's Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper, to assist with response costs and future preparedness activities. I am assured all indications are that white spot disease is eradicable. To that end, and in addition to the provision of rapid response funding, a range of emergency response and incident management activities are being undertaken, including destruction and decontamination of affected areas; bird mitigation; monitoring of waterways; community engagement and awareness; surveillance and sampling; and scientific and technical advice. All of these measures are vital, as is the bill that we are here to discuss.

The Biosecurity Amendment (Ballast Water and Other Measures) Bill 2017 will enhance biosecurity powers and further protect Australia's $60 billion agricultural industries, including fishing in my local region and the beautiful Moreton Bay. I might add that our agricultural exports are up significantly over the last 12 months, many thanks to our free trade agreements and other measures for jobs and growth that the coalition has implemented. The bill will provide additional powers to control disease carriers at Australia's airports and seaports, including on incoming aircraft and vessels that move through Moreton Bay and on to Fisherman Island to dock. I see the member for Bonner is in the chair, and he would know this area very well, having Moreton Island in his electorate.

The bill will also provide additional protection for coastal environments from the risk of marine pest incursions. As we have seen with the impact of white spot, threats to biosecurity can take hold quickly. But it is not just the threats to fishing relating to the issue of ballast water that highlight the importance of this bill. The recent global outbreak of Zika virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, has shown us how important control of disease-carrying pests is. It may not be particularly pleasant, but spraying insecticide on incoming aircraft and vessels to kill mosquitoes capable of carrying the Zika virus, among other things, is key to ensuring they do not establish populations in Australia and put the Australian community at risk.

Ballast water is a threat to Australia's biosecurity because any number of plants and animals that live in the ocean may be picked up from the point of departure before being deposited in other regions and offshore in my electorate in the beautiful Moreton Bay. Tightening management of ballast water in ships provides important protection for our fisheries and coastal environments.

Biosecurity plays a critical role in reducing risks and protecting our nation so that it remains one of the few countries in the world that are free from many of the world's most severe pests and diseases. We are fortunate in Australia and we want to protect this position. The bill will complement our current suite of biosecurity legislation to protect our vital agricultural industries and the capacity for our nation to continue producing and exporting the highest quality, clean and sustainably produced agricultural goods to the world.

Importantly, the bill will prepare Australia to be fully legislatively compliant with the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments when it comes into force internationally later this year on 8 September. Of course we should have our own domestically generated layers of protection, and these should be as tight as required. We do not make any apologies at times when imports from other countries need to be stopped due to biosecurity hazards. We make no apologies for that.

The convention recognises that invasive aquatic species present a major threat to marine ecosystems, with shipping identified as a major pathway for introducing risk to new environments. The problem has increased in recent years, along with trade and traffic volume, and in particular with the introduction of steel hulls, allowing vessels to use water instead of solid materials as ballast.

The effects of the introduction of new species have been devastating in many areas of the world. As I said a moment ago, in my own electorate we see white spot temporarily putting the brakes on the trade of prawns. I know that some prawn producers in my electorate have been quite significantly impacted because locals are not eating the local prawns, despite the fact that consumption will not actually hurt humans.

According to the International Maritime Organization, bio-invasions are continuing to increase at an alarming rate and, as the volume of seaborne trade continues to increase, the problem may be yet to reach its peak. However, the ballast water management convention that was adopted in 2004, entering into force in September, aims to address this, preventing the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another. It seeks to do this by establishing standards and procedures for the management and control of ships' ballast water and sediments. It requires ships to exchange ballast water as far from the nearest land as possible and it sets limits—for example, 200 nautical miles from land—depending on a ships' usual route. In order to comply with the convention, Australia must ensure that ships whose normal voyage goes beyond the 200-nautical-mile zone conduct their ballast water exchange outside that 200-nautical-mile zone. To do that Australia requires jurisdiction out to the exclusive economic zone.

Ratifying the convention gives our nation greater powers to regulate foreign vessels consistent with Australian vessels operating between our own domestic ports. It enables Australia to phase out the acceptance of less effective ballast water exchange in favour of the more effective onboard treatment systems. Having onboard treatment systems on more vessels and regulating ballast water on ships between Australian ports will improve our ability to control a critical pathway that can lead to the spread of aquatic pests and diseases.

Ratifying the ballast water convention is vital for an internationally consistent approach to managing ballast water on vessels. The convention is an important global initiative involving over 50 countries that together represent more than 53 per cent of the world's merchant fleet shipping tonnage. As a nation we signed the ballast water convention in 2005, having played an important role in its development, and thereby agreeing to develop arrangements for its implementation here in Australia. I welcome the opportunity ratifying the convention presents for protecting our sovereignty and industry and ensuring the continuance of relative isolation from the scourge of pests and disease.

Protecting our ocean environment is of immense importance to me personally. As a diver I am proud of our government's investment in our waterways and of course in the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, where the federal coalition government has spent millions of dollars since being elected. It is important for Queensland, for residents and businesses in the Moreton Bay region and for the electorate of Petrie more broadly from both a recreational and a commercial perspective. I will give you an indication of its value.

According to the most recent research that I could put my hands on, in 2005 the Moreton Bay fishing industry in my electorate produced around $13 million worth of seafood. Half of that was produced by trawlers. More recent estimates of catch suggest the value of commercial fishing has increased to between $24 million and $30 million per annum, and it may well be much higher. More than two-thirds of the value of catch caught by the trawl fleet was derived from prawn species, hence the impact of white spot recently.

There are well over 200 vessels active in the Morton Bay fishing zone alone. I was out on one of those vessels during Christmas 2015. I went out on TheMarvin, a local prawn trawler, and they certainly worked hard, our local commercial fishermen. Every two hours they set the nets, sorted the catch and rechecked them. It was, pretty well, from six at night until six in the morning. Our commercial fishermen should be recognised for the valued role they play. Whilst I am a recreational fisherman, not everyone likes to fish recreationally, and people want to buy their seafood from somewhere like Morgans or Seafood Town or other local seafood retailers in my electorate.

All levels of government, at the federal level through this bill and at the Queensland state government level, should be supporting our commercial fishermen. The capital they have invested in their fleets—in boats, associated fishing gear and onshore facilities—is estimated to be around $77 million, $65 million of which is capital invested in vessels alone.

The success of our fishing industry is a combination of the dedication and talent of those who work hard, as I described a moment ago, and the fact that Australian seafood is the best and the envy of the world. You would not go to a country anywhere, let alone in Asia, that would not want to buy our local seafood. Our pristine waters give life to countless species and a livelihood to a thriving, responsible fishing community. Whether cutting a living, catching a feed or simply soaking up the beauty of our surrounds, Australians have an affinity with the sea.

I congratulate the coalition government for working to protect something I hope we can all continue to enjoy, to benefit from and, ultimately, to take for granted. If we succeed on that last point, it means as a government we have done our job well.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the proudest boasts I have in my lifetime is that I—or, more specifically, the head of my department—took the initiatives that resulted in the prawn fish-farming industry in Australia. But to show nothing more than white spot illustrates the error of this quarter of a century by this parliament. They have a policy of free trade. It has been taken to such a fanatical level that they do not honour or respect—the last speaker said, 'We have the best fisheries in the world and we have clean, green image.' No you have not! You have white spot. You do not have a clean, green image in fisheries. You now have one of the worst diseases that crustaceans can take in the world.

Who do we blame for this? We pleaded with the government not to bring in prawns from overseas. We said, 'You will get white spot. You will get IHHNV on the Great Barrier Reef.' We have people whingeing and crying and putting hundreds of millions of dollars, every year, in the Great Barrier Reef and then doing something that destroys the Great Barrier Reef. When we complained that we now have IHHNV there, they said, 'It's endemic. There's nothing we can do about it.' We said, 'Bring them in and you'll get disease on the barrier reef.' No sooner do we get it and, far from saying, 'We're ashamed of ourselves and we're embarrassed at what we've done,' or apologising to the people of Australia and the planet, they said, 'It's endemic now so we don't have to worry about it anymore.' That was, basically, the answer I got.

You cannot have a clean, green image if you bring every agricultural product known to man into this country. I am not aware of anything, with one exception, that has been banned from coming into this country. I was at a big meeting in North Queensland with AQIS, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, and the Johnson family. This family made themselves immortal when they put up a huge sign during Mr Keating's last election. The sign said 'AQIS'. It had a big line through it and underneath it the word 'acquiesce'. That sign said it all!

We said, 'Bring the oranges in and you'll get citrus canker.' So we got citrus canker and it cost us $200 million. We said, 'Bring the plantation product in and you'll get black sigatoka in the bananas.' So we got black sigatoka in the bananas. We said, 'Bring the apples in and you'll get fire blight.' So we got fire blight in the apples. We said, 'Bring the grapes in from California and you'll get the glassy-winged sharpshooter disease.'

We have had an outbreak of black sigatoka. We have had an outbreak of citrus canker. We have had an outbreak of papaya fruit fly. It is easy for me to reel off these things, but each of them costs this country hundreds of millions of dollars. The major prawn fishery in Australia is on the east coast. In fact, the prawns are only caught in the warmer seas. The currents along the east coast travel north, so it will pick up.

I have a very interesting letter, here, from a young man I have very great admiration for, an industrialist in North Queensland. He is on the Innisfail council now. This is at 10 minutes past midnight. I will quote from the submission: 'There is no instruction from the Queensland fisheries service to the commercial fishermen as to what to do when wild-caught prawns carrying white spot are caught.' What do they do—throw them back in the ocean? It went on: 'A few weeks ago 100 tiger prawns were caught in Moreton Bay and all of them were proven to have white spot.' In other words, it has got away into the wild fishery. That is terribly depressing. From there it will travel north right up into the Barrier Reef and up to New Guinea. They will be infected with white spot. 'We believe this test was conducted by biosecurity, as shown by their website and in the Courier Mail. These tiger prawns have been confirmed as being wild, ocean tiger prawns.' So, it is into the wild now. It is into our seas.

The previous speaker talked about our clean, green image. Sorry mate! Your government destroyed your clean, green image. Your government destroyed it. And they did it with their eyes well and truly open. You do not need to feel bad on account of mob on the other side because they most certainly did exactly the same thing. Most worrying immediately—if there is any chance of containing this virus from spreading to other wild prawn populations in Queensland or interstate—is that in the early months of the year, Moreton Bay hosts a huge bait fishery consisting of small, greasy prawns, which is the technical name. They are sold by the fishermen and then processed by a large company into very popular 200 to 300 gram packs for distribution to approximately 3,000 different retailers up and down the east coast of Australia. So, you can kiss goodbye to your southern fishery as well, and your prawns there as well, because you have not even bothered to quarantine the area. If ever there were a case of closing the gate after the horse has bolted, we have it here.

We do not know if these prawns have white spot, as they have not been tested yet. They are not even being tested. They are caught in Moreton Bay, where already there have been 100 cases of white spot in the wild prawn fishery. And Moreton Bay, for those who do not know, is the bay in which Brisbane is built. Also, they are extremely small, and fishermen do not know how to identify whether they have white spot contrary to big prawns on which you can visibly see the marked white spot. You can imagine the ramifications of recreational fishermen using this bait throughout the Australian east coast fishery—throughout all of Australia's fishery and in New South Wales and Victoria—as this white spot is incredibly contagious and spreads quickly. It was in the Logan River, and we have miles of problems because the Logan river runs to the Pacific Ocean at the Gold Coast. As this white spot is incredibly contagious and spreads quickly, the white spot not only affects prawns but also affects all crustaceans in the wild, and, I believe, certain fish species as well.

Minister Joyce, in December 2016, noted our concerns and said they had become a reality, and white spot is now prevalent in the wild in Moreton Bay. The minister has acknowledged this. If white spot disease is left unchecked in the wild, what happens to commercial fishermen? Do they keep fishing? If there is a negative impact on the fishermen and fisheries, will they be compensated for their loss the same as the prawn farmers? Here we go! Tax payers of Australia have to make up for the absolute utter irresponsibility and incompetence of the government—and it was both governments, the ALP and the LNP. Sit contented in the knowledge that it was both of you that did it! Unfortunately for you now, we, the others, are running at 25 per cent in Australia, because the Australian people have just had it up to here with this free market rubbish. If there is a negative impact on the fishermen and the fisheries, will they be compensated for their loss, as the prawn farmers are, particularly given the government agencies have not kept this debacle in check? If it has gone into the wild, we can start with blaming the government for not quarantining the area faster and more effectively, and for not quarantining the bait industry—doing nothing about the bait industry.

I hope everyone understands what I am saying here. Moreton Bay fishery is a big bait fishery. They catch little prawns that they cannot sell as anything else except bait and they sell them in 300 gram packs as bait throughout Australia. There has been nothing done by the biosecurity—what a contradiction in terms that is; it is a classic oxymoron. Nothing has been done about the bait fishery. It was brought to the attention of the minister, the LNP in Queensland and senior officials in the government, and they have done absolutely nothing. South Australia had the brains and foresight to announce a ban on all Moreton Bay prawn being used in their waterways back in January 2017. We cannot understand why the Queensland government and the federal government have not grappled with this problem immediately upon finding out about the white spot outbreak—10 whole months unchecked and climbing. In the event of fishery shutdown if the disease is not contained by strict management practices—of quarantining in Moreton Bay, or any other additional area—assistance should be given to all commercial operators affected, the same as for the prawn farmers.

We seek your urgent support for the establishment of a taskforce to deal with this matter as a matter of the greatest urgency. In our small representation in state parliament, the KAP—which I represent in this place—will be moving immediately along these lines as fast as we can get it into the state parliament. God help those who do not support this initiative.

This is the tragedy. When we established the industry, Thailand had $1,000 million in exports—farmed prawns. We felt that we would catch them by the year 2000. We thought they would hit $2,000 million and we would hit $2,000 million, and we were on target to do that. Two thousand million dollars represents 20,000 jobs. It represents $400 million that the government would get in tax revenue. That is $2,000 million worth. What happened was that we went up to about $700 million or $800 million in the industry and then we collapsed back down to $65 million. I will return to the reason that happened. Thailand did not go to $2,000 million; they went to $10,000 million.

This country here was running around placating the greenies—and that was the Liberal government, by the way; that was the Liberal government that placated the greenies—and it imposed upon the prawn farmers the requirement to have pure water going back into the river and sea systems. There is no marine prawn farming or any freshwater prawn farming in the world that has that requirement, which doubled the cost structure for our prawn farmers. Needless to say, they all went broke. Prawn farming has tremendous pumping costs, for aeration and moving the water, and tremendous electricity expenses. And I will not go sideways on the cost of electricity and privatisation. It is nothing else but privatisation. It is totally the result of privatisation.

Those electricity and other costs, and having to clean that water, meant we had to double the pond sizes. Because these areas are on the Gold Coast, the paradise coast of North Queensland, it is very valuable land. That land costs a hell of a lot of money. If you have to have twice the amount of land that you had before, you are in big trouble financially. Then you have the electricity costs and labour costs going through the roof because you had to purify the water. So we went from nearly $1,000 million down to virtually nothing, about $60 million, whilst Thailand went from $1,000 million up to $10,000 million.

You do not have to be Albert Einstein to figure out what happens then. Your clean, green image is completely shot to pieces. We have every disease known to man in this country now, thanks to these policies of no quarantine. Free trade overrides quarantine. When that famous sign of the Johnsons went up, with 'AQIS' changed to 'acquiesce', the head of quarantine was sacked over the bringing-in of plants that resulted in three diseases escaping. She moved over to head up the department of trade—because she was a great advocate of free trade!

We now have white spot. (Extension of time granted) We said that white spot was going to come in, and within, I think, about six months, there was a huge outbreak of white spot in Darwin. We said, 'Righto. Hey, come on. Now you know that white spot comes in.' They poured 23,000 tonnes of poison into Darwin harbour. But did they stop the prawns coming in from overseas? No way Hose   . That would offend against free-marketism, the religion of this place. We couldn't possibly do that! So now we have white spot, and it is all the way up the coast to New Guinea. Congratulations to AQIS and the governments of Australia over the last 10 years! Congratulations to you!

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Biosecurity Amendment (Ballast Water and Other Measures) Bill 2017 amends the Biosecurity Act 2015 to further strengthen Australia's biosecurity system and grant further powers to manage biosecurity risk. This bill is consistent with the Australian government's commitment to ensure that biosecurity risks are fully managed and biosecurity systems remain effective against changing biosecurity and human health risks. Protecting our enviable pest and disease status is an ongoing challenge. Biosecurity risks are changing significantly and growing in complexity.

In 2014, the CSIRO identified megatrends expected to impact biosecurity into the future, such as growth in global food demand and markets; and increased movements of goods, vessels and people around the world. The government is responding to this challenge. Agricultural industries are large contributors to the Australian economy, and it is essential to protect them, and our export markets, by keeping them free of pests and disease. We cannot afford not to do that.

Commonwealth funding for biosecurity has increased since 2012-13. The total expenditure this financial year on biosecurity is $749 million. This is an increase of $145.5 million, or 24 per cent, since 2012-13. Total investment in biosecurity from 2013-14 to 2016-17 is $2.72 billion. This includes funding of up to $200 million under the agriculture white paper, to improve biosecurity. This investment is being used to strengthen biosecurity surveillance, increase scientific capability, improve information systems and analytical capabilities, and build community based engagement.

I note that many members of this House have mentioned the current outbreak of white spot disease in Queensland. The objective of our response to this disease remains eradication. I would note that around 20,000 samples have been taken, and fewer than 200 prawns taken from the wild have tested positive for white spot. That is less than one per cent. National response arrangements are in place. The Australian government is supporting the Queensland government, which, as members would be aware, has implemented additional movement controls for three months as a precaution to minimise the risk of further spread. The Deputy Prime Minister also announced the provision of up to $1.74 million in emergency funding to assist with some of the costs incurred during the response to the outbreak, as well as to fund biosecurity preparedness and communication activities for industry. We are also engaging with the Queensland government and the prawn industry on possible cost-sharing arrangements to assist in managing the broader response, which may provide further assistance.

Australia is also cracking down on green prawn imports, following suspected deliberate contravening of the nation's strict biosecurity controls. The government is working to manage any risk associated with uncooked prawns imported before the suspension. We welcome the Senate inquiry into this, which has commenced and which will probe how this devastating disease got into Australia, its impact on industry and how to prevent future incursions.

The bill builds on the Biosecurity Act 2015, which this government delivered, and focuses on measures in relation to ballast-water management for ships and provides additional powers to control exotic vectors carrying harmful human diseases. The ballast-water measures will provide additional protection for coastal environments from the risk of marine-pest incursions by legislating for the use of more effective ballast-water treatment technologies. The bill further strengthens the biosecurity system by enabling better targeting of vectors capable of carrying human diseases, such as mosquitos which carry the zika virus. These additional powers are needed under the Biosecurity Act to ensure that Australia is not left vulnerable to significant human health risks. The need for these powers is demonstrated by rising global detections of the mosquito-borne zika virus. The bill seeks to reduce the likelihood of incursions of vectors that could pose a human health concern and provides powers to manage potential incursions when they are detected.

The bill will also position Australia to ratify the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments by introducing a nationally-consistent approach to ballast water in line with the requirements of the convention. This convention was signed by the Howard Government in 2005 and is an important global initiative involving over fifty countries, representing over 53 per cent of the world's merchant fleet shipping tonnage. Australia played a leading role in the development of the convention and it is important that we ratify it ahead of its entry into force on 8 September this year to uphold our positive international reputation for biosecurity management.

Ballast water is now recognised as a major source of the spread of exotic marine pests around the world. Each year, around 200 million tonnes of ships' ballast water is discharged into Australian ports by 18,000 ship visits from some 600 overseas ports. Australia is particularly vulnerable, as many cargo ships arrive here without cargo and, therefore, with a large quantity of ballast water which needs to be discharged when we fill these ships with our exports for the global marketplace. If the organisms survive the transport and discharge process, they may become established in the environment and populations may flourish. The Northern Pacific seastar, for example, is a major pest introduced into Australia via ballast water.

While Australia has had ballast-water management requirements since 2001 to prevent new marine pests arriving in Australia, domestic movements are not subject to ballast water regulation, except for vessels arriving in Victoria. This bill will enable a comprehensive set of domestic ballast-water-management arrangements to be put in place to lower the risk of marine pests being spread through ballast water between parts of our pristine coastline. Ships will be required to have ballast-water management plans while in Australian waters and to discharge ballast water in accordance with the convention. This will reduce the risk of invasive marine pests entering Australian waters, as well as between Australian ports.

Additionally, it will protect Australia's valuable fisheries industries and environment by reducing the risk of potentially invasive and harmful aquatic organisms being introduced into the Australian marine ecosystem. The bill will further strengthen our strong biosecurity system. With expanding international maritime trade, it is in Australia's interest to implement more uniform and stringent requirements to manage the risk of vessels introducing marine pests into Australia's waters. It is also in Australia's interest to continue to reduce the likelihood of incursions of vectors that could pose a human health concern, such as mosquitos, and provide powers to manage potential incursions when they are detected. These amendments mean there will be much less risk of viruses, including zika, carried by vectors such as mosquitoes being established. It also means that our unique marine life will be better protected. This is very important legislation that will enhance our biosecurity regime, and I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.