Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I advise the Senate that the opposition will not be proceeding with opposition amendments on sheet 7671. The opposition will be supporting the government amendments on sheet ES125. The opposition will not be supporting the Greens amendment on sheet 7676.

In concluding the second reading debate on the Biosecurity Bill, Senator Colbeck said:

The inspector-general will be appointed by the agriculture minister and report directly to the minister, ensuring the position remains independent from regulatory functions of the Department of Agriculture. The government amendment also provides that the inspector-general may compel a person to provide information and documents or to answer questions relevant to a review. This is crucial to the inspector-general's ability to review the performance of functions and the exercise of powers by biosecurity officials. The Director of Biosecurity would also be required to comply with any reasonable request from the inspector-general for assistance for the purpose of conducting a review.

The government can assure stakeholders that the regulations will state that the inspector-general is to set an annual review program in writing in consultation with the Director of Biosecurity and the minister. The review program will be publicly available to stakeholders so stakeholders are aware of review topics in advance and, importantly, the inspector-general will not be subject to the direction of either the minister or the Director of Biosecurity, so reviews will be independently conducted.

What Senator Colbeck effectively told the Senate in his summing up was that the government's backdown on its attempt to abolish the Inspector-General of Biosecurity appears complete. It has been executed under the cover of budget week to avoid embarrassment, but it is a backdown that Labor welcomes. There is nothing more important to Australian agriculture than the effectiveness of our biosecurity system. Australia's clean, green and safe food image relies on it.

The great unanswered question is: why did the Minister for Agriculture try to effectively abolish the position of the Inspector-General of Biosecurity in the first place? Answering a question from the shadow minister on the issue in the House prior to his capitulation, the minister said:

… we still have an inspector-general. We will continue to have one. His name is Bond—it is not James Bond; it is Michael Bond. He is still there. I checked his health this morning. He is happy, smiling and continuing on with his job.

This was Minister Joyce in the House of Representatives, in Hansard on 23 February 2015. That was before the government circulated its amendments in this place. While I am not suggesting the minister misled the House, it is curious that the government has seen the need to subsequently circulate its amendments to give legislative effect to the minister's statement to the House in February. While Minister Joyce is yet to explain why he tried to remove the independent oversight of the Inspector-General of Biosecurity, Labor welcomes the government's backdown and Senator Colbeck's assurances in the second reading debate.