Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion to take note of answers from Senator Carr moved by Senator Colbeck. It is terribly distressing because this is the third day on which I have questioned Senator Carr on these matters and he continues to state points which are incorrect. One of the points I have made is the fact that the fieldwork associated with the Hendra virus research in Queensland is partially funded by the Australian biosecurity CRC, undertaken by the Queensland DPI. The minister continues to refute that view and I cannot understand why he does. It is clear, it is the fact: it is not work undertaken by the CSIRO. The minister has said that for whatever reason this particular CRC did not renew its application when it was refused earlier this year. I would have thought that, acting responsibly, the minister may himself have queried why such an important CRC did not reapply, particularly after we had the outbreak of the swine flu pandemic—it is transferred between humans and animals—and of course the fresh outbreak of Hendra. Why then he did not call the parties together to find out why that CRC had not reapplied? I did, and there was a considerable level of distress when that particular CRC learnt that their application had not been peer reviewed, that it had been the basis of a study and a recommendation by the review committee—no members of which had any expertise, as I said yesterday in this place, in areas such as infectious disease, biosecurity, quarantine, animal disease or the like.

Surely the minister must have had some alarm bells ringing. So incorrect was the advice of that committee to the minister that they said to him that the Quarantine and Inspection Service was not part of that bid. I would have thought that the minister would have had the opportunity in the last 24 hours to avail himself of the fact that AQIS is merely a service of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, which was a main participant in the bid. That committee advised the minister again that the Customs service was not part of the bid. Of course it was not part of the bid or the CRC because the Customs service does not do research.

Why is it so critically important that this CRC continues? There are three reasons. Let me come back to the agreement of Senator Sterle and Senator O’Brien yesterday, who visited the facility with me in Geelong. We all agree that it is world’s best practice, but it is a laboratory based service. The strength of this CRC has been the fact that it combines members who do the fieldwork—in the case of the Hendra virus, the Queensland DPI; but state organisations around Australia—and feed that material into the CSIRO at the Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong, which does phenomenally good work. Let me make the third point, which will be lost when this CRC is terminated—and this is where it is so unique: we have been able to take the quality of the work done by the Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong, with the brilliance and speed of the testing, and, through the excellence of the CRC, transfer that out to laboratories around Australia. That is not a feature of other organisations around the world; it is a role of the CRC and is not something undertaken by the CSIRO. It does not have that role. I urge the minister to reconsider and to invite an independent assessment to see whether or not this CRC should continue.

I made the point today about the West Nile virus, a viral disease which has killed hundreds of people in the USA and in the north of America in the last couple of years and which affects animals. The two vectors are mosquitos of a type we have in Australia and birds, including crows, which we have in Australia. It is a shame Senator Crossin is not here, because the Northern Territory is one of the areas at risk. I asked the minister: who will do this work, which has been ongoing at the CRC, when the CRC is finished? I draw the attention of the Senate to the comment by the minister, when in opposition, about the dairy CRC and the weeds CRC. He pointed out that he asked the government of the day why they were being wound up when their research was beginning to bear fruit. I asked the minister today: why is this CRC being wound up when it is so good?

Question agreed to.