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

Senator Davey, not only have I looked at the National Carp Control Plan but also I have looked at in particular the fact that it was first announced by the then minister, Mr Joyce, back in May 2016, and was supposed to be delivered in 2018. Four years later, when the coalition lost office, it still hadn't been delivered. I don't remember this level of outrage around your own government having failed to deliver the National Carp Control Plan that it said would be delivered in 2018.

The carp plan is complete, although the report that has more recently been received by the government provides insights into the feasibility of the carp virus as a biocontrol agent. There are uncertainties about its efficiency and effectiveness in safely removing carp from our waterways. I am surprised that the National Party—being the environmental vandals that they are—want to get out there and immediately release a virus into the Murray-Darling.