Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Griff. As I outlined in my previous answer, it will be a decision for state and territory ministers whether to adopt a mandatory or voluntary regulatory framework. That decision obviously isn't going to be made until next month, so it's a bit premature to be making a call on that. That's obviously a decision for those ministers in that forum. But the concerns of the bodies you spoke about—the RSPCA, the Australian Veterinary Association and the Pet Food Industry Association—have been made clear not just to the federal agriculture minister but, I imagine, to jurisdictional ministers as well. Agriculture Victoria and PrimeSafe, as the responsible regulatory authorities in Victoria, led the investigation into the dog deaths and hospitalisations I mentioned in my earlier answer. They found that there was a toxin, found in native plants in northern Australia, which has been confirmed as the cause.