Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I endorse the remarks of Senators Colbeck, Milne and Heffernan. This is without doubt one of the worst decisions that this government has made, and that is a big call. I say it with despair because the implication of this decision is to put the entire apple and pear industry in this nation at risk. It is a case where the decision has been made on very poor premises, where the goalposts have been shifted, and where Biosecurity Australia has failed Australian farmers and Australian consumers as a result.

I agree with Apple and Pear Australia and their statement today, which said:

... Biosecurity Australia (BA) has abandoned apple and pear growers across Australia and the whole industry is now fearful of fire blight, leaf curling midge or European canker entering this country.

Why on earth are we risking our clean, green, disease-free status? This is an extraordinary decision. Is this the thin end of the wedge? What next for our potato industry? What next for our horticulture industry? We know what happened with myrtle rust, which has devastated and damaged the nursery industry across the country. Once fire blight is in this country, that is it; you cannot eradicate it. We have a situation in the Goulburn Valley where they are 10 times more prone to fire blight than in New Zealand, and we can see how quickly fire blight has spread in New Zealand. This is free trade gone mad. This is about opening the door to the destruction of our horticulture industry in this country.

I recently obtained some information from my contacts within the apple and pear industry. My understanding is—and I call on the government to confirm or deny that this is the case—that several weeks ago at a meeting between industry representatives and the parliamentary secretary, Catherine King, the whole issue of how to contain fire blight was raised. It seems that the only way you can contain fire blight is to use streptomycin, an antibiotic, the use of which is banned in this country. It is an antibiotic that Professor Peter Collignon, Professor of Medicine at the Australian National University, has very serious concerns about because once it gets into our food chain it reduces the antibiotic resistance of the population. There are huge public health implications in relation to that. My understanding is that the government's response is that there will be, as a result of this decision, contingency plans to allow the use of streptomycin here in Australia. If that is the case, that is very disturbing.

Basically the government is saying that this will happen. It is conceding defeat. We will put up the white flag of surrender. We are abandoning our farmers. I would urge the government that it is not too late to reconsider this. The so-called safeguards in place will not provide the bulwark that we need to prevent the introduction of fire blight. It is not a case of if; it is a case of when we get fire blight in this country. When we do, the only way to contain it is through the use of streptomycin, an antibiotic, a chemical that is banned for use in this country today. But that will have to change as a result of this decision.

I would like confirmation from the government as to whether the use of streptomycin was considered and whether lifting the ban has been considered in this country. If it has done so it has huge public health implications. I would urge the government to reconsider its position. This is a disaster that is just waiting to happen.

Question agreed to.