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

Thank you, Senator Lambie, for your interest in what is a really important topic of concern not just to beekeepers and they honey bee industry but also to horticulture and pollination industries in particular. You're right that Varroa mite was first detected in the Port of Newcastle in June last year, and we've been working very closely with the New South Wales government ever since to try to contain this, bring it under control and, in fact, eradicate Varroa mite because of the danger that it presents.

We do take this as a very serious biosecurity outbreak that needs to be eradicated, and as recently as this morning I spoke again with my department's biosecurity section to get the latest update on where they are at in their negotiations with New South Wales, because we are providing them with whatever assistance we possibly can provide, including dollars, to help eradicate Varroa mite. I'm certainly aware of the evolving situation we face in New South Wales, particularly the recent detections of Varroa mite in Kempsey, and the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has been following up on a number of tracing links out of this area.

As you're probably aware, the federal government's primary role in relation to biosecurity is to keep things out of the country. If they do, unfortunately, make their way in, as seems to have occurred in this case, it is primarily the responsibility of state and territory governments to manage those outbreaks, but, of course, that is with our assistance, and that's what we're doing. There is also an investigation underway as to how Varroa mite got into Australia in the first place, and that is obviously something that we're leading the work on given our responsibilities around borders.

I very much share your concern and I've seen the damage that it's already inflicted on beekeepers and the pollination industries. We'll keep working as hard as we possibly can with New South Wales to eradicate it.