Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—(a) notes that:(i) the incursion of Apis cerana, the Asian honey bee, was discovered in May 2007 near Cairns, Queensland,(ii) Apis cerana has the capacity to devastate the native bee and commercial honey bee populations in Australia, putting at risk:(A) $4 billion worth of agricultural produce pollinated by the commercial honey bee, as Apis cerana is incapable of domestication, leaving Australian agriculture reliant on incidental pollination, and(B) the $80 million Australian honey industry,(iii) Apis cerana:(A) is a carrier of the varroa mite, another major threat to Australia’s bee populations and the honey industry,(B) has the potential to become a pest as virulent and damaging to the Australian environment as the rabbit, cane toad andEuropean wasp, and(C) poses a major threat to biodiversity through negative impacts on native flora and fauna, and(iv) the incursion of Apis cerana remains contained in a radius of approximately 50 to 55km of Cairns; and(b) calls on the Government to develop, coordinate and implement a program to eradicate Apis cerana from Australia.