Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Polley, I would love nothing more. I apologise for being so eager to talk about the work of this task force.

Overall, I am pleased to advise that this review has found that our biosecurity system is strong and sound, particularly in prevention and mitigation. There is good reason to expect that Australia will remain free of these diseases well into the future, although, as I have put on the record before, the risk is certainly there. The review also found that some of our biosecurity responses do need to be updated to be current with the times and with the technology we now have. For example, the review suggested that a COAG instrument that hadn't been looked at since 2002 should be updated to better fit our modern times. The review also made suggestions around better crisis-communications capacity, regularly updated national plans, improved data collection and improved collaboration with states and territories. These suggestions are now being implemented. This is why the work of the task force was so important, so that in the unlikely event of an incursion we are well prepared to limit the spread and impact of these foreign diseases. (Time expired)