Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to say that this, again, is a unanimous report from this committee, as Senator Nash has indicated. I think the unanimity of the committee on this issue must be of concern to the government because what the committee is saying is that we are not satisfied that the import risk assessment process in fact leads to the low risk of transmission of fire blight to the Australian industry. In that regard, we agree with the industry and not with the views of the officers of Biosecurity Australia.

As the next phase of this process is the examination of the possible protocols for the importation of New Zealand apples to Australia, the committee has expressed a specific concern that the matter of establishing that protocol not proceed to finality until the committee has had the opportunity to examine any proposal. We do not want to see this matter proceed without proper examination, given the risk to the industry and the fact that the committee is not satisfied, not convinced, that the science underpins the finding made by Biosecurity Australia.

There were concerns expressed about the appeals processes, which clearly limit the ability of industry participants to pursue material that they believe is germane to the consideration of this matter. The committee has expressed a view on that. I would have to say that the opposition’s view remains—in fact, it is strengthened by the view of this committee—that there needs to be a thorough independent review of our import risk assessment process. Indeed, that is a policy that Labor will be taking to the next election, because this is yet another example of a failure of confidence in the process being expressed by members of this committee on a bipartisan basis—or perhaps I should describe it as a ‘multipartisan’ basis because of the structure of the committee and the participation of senators from not just the coalition and the Labor Party but also the Greens and Family First; I know Senator Fielding has some views on this matter as well.

We feel that the time for being satisfied with the performance of our import risk assessment processes is long past. We feel that the time for having a smug acceptance that nothing should change and we should just go ahead the way we have been is long past. This report again highlights the need for the sort of review that Labor believes is absolutely essential. We remain committed to that. In fact, our views are strengthened by this report.