Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Biosecurity Amendment (Enhanced Risk Management) Bill 2021, a bill that I have been waiting some time to speak to, indeed. I was very happy to see that I'll finally get an opportunity to make some brief remarks on this bill at this time.

The federal government have primary responsibility over biosecurity matters relating to Australian borders, but only when it suits them.

There are some important things being done in this bill, but, in the brief moments that I have to make commentary on this bill, I make the observation that, in times of a COVID pandemic that was declared in January last year and that saw our parliament schedule have to be rearranged from March last year, we are only now, in December, being given the opportunity to continue debate on this legislation. It is only in the second half of this year, 18 months after—

As I observed earlier, this is very important legislation that is before us—the Biosecurity Amendment (Enhanced Risk Assessment Management) Bill 2021. The federal government, as I said, have primary responsibility over biosecurity matters relating to Australian borders, but only when it suits them. Sometimes the Prime Minister passes responsibility to the states. Sometimes he doesn't hold a hose. But this is also the Prime Minister who has in his office a boat trophy that says, 'I stopped these.' It's a pity he couldn't stop the one boat that really mattered—the Ruby Princess.

Our international borders are a federal responsibility. They always have been and they always will be. The Prime Minister's idol once said:

We will decide who comes into this country and the circumstances in which they come.

The Ruby Princess was a Morrison government border failure, and thousands of Australians paid the price—some the ultimate price. It is vital our appropriate national border staff have the legislated powers to manage our biosecurity risks at the border.

In particular, these laws will strengthen border biosecurity protections for those entering Australia by ship or air, by expanding pre-arrival reporting requirements for aircraft and vessels; strengthening penalties for noncompliance with negative pratique requirements; creating a mechanism to make a human biosecurity group direction; increasing civil and criminal penalties for contraventions of chapter 3 of the Biosecurity Act, which deals with managing the biosecurity risks relating to goods; streamlining the process for making certain determinations; specifying prohibited, conditionally non-prohibited and suspended goods, or granting permits based on risk assessments; and increasing efficiency and ensuring transparency of expenditure on biosecurity related programs and activities by permitting the agriculture minister and the health minister to authorise the expenditure directly through the Biosecurity Act.

Ultimately, it's work like this that will contribute to Australia's pandemic preparedness and response at the border—some 18 months after that pandemic started. So it has to make one wonder: how on earth is it that, more than 18 months into this COVID-19 pandemic, the Morrison government is only now getting around to introducing this legislation to strengthen border biosecurity protections? The delay in bringing about this essential legislation to protect our nation during the pandemic is negligent and unforgivable. We must get this right for the health of our nation.

We've seen how this can be managed well in the management of Western Australia, where there was a COVID-19 outbreak on the MV Artania cruise ship off our coast last year. The WA police were shocked to discover that there was no Australian Border Force presence for our ports. This was a typical 'I don't hold a hose' situation—the Morrison government failing to help in Western Australia. So the Western Australian government had to take things into their own hands. While the federal government completely stuffed the handling of the outbreak on the MVRuby Princess, the WA government had the health and welfare of the crew, the passengers, and the Australian public at the forefront by keeping ship occupants on board rather than letting potentially unwell people off the ship to mix with the wider community and Western Australian medical staff. The whole scenario was resolved in just over 15 days between making a decision about how to manage the situation and the vessel then departing with no crew hospitalisations and no deaths.

This is greatly in contrast to the damning report outlining the serious inadequacies that exist across Australia's biosecurity system. Remember, the Ruby Princess disaster occurred in March 2020. It is now December 2021. You have to acknowledge the swiftness of this Morrison government in dealing with pressing issues!

The April 2021 Inspector-General of Biosecurity's report entitled Confidence testing for at-border delivery of critical human biosecurity functions—Ruby Princess cruise ship incident found weaknesses in the federal Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment's management of human biosecurity functions and recommended a strengthening of arrangements for intercepting listed human diseases and human biosecurity risk material to ensure that efforts be directed to areas of highest risk. The review also found that information systems that underpin its human health activities need to be transformed. The inspector-general made 42 recommendations that went to improvements around the management of human biosecurity in the vessel's pathway. Yet this bill doesn't actually implement those recommendations.

How is a global pandemic not enough to prioritise our national biosecurity processes? We now have legislation in front of us, in this parliament, to do just that, and yet the recommendations made on one of the most serious breaches of our border under this government during a COVID-19 pandemic are not being dealt with in the legislation. How is a global pandemic not enough to make sure that our national biosecurity processes are strengthened, are enhanced and protect our nation? It's been more than 18 months, and we are only just getting to this legislation now, and it doesn't even do what is needed to protect our nation from COVID-19. It is typical of this Morrison government, which is all announcement and no follow-through.

Debate adjourned.