Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, upon notice, on 28 November 2012:

(1) What fees were provided by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation to Mr Peter McFarlane of McFarlane Strategic Services to consult with industry on the establishment of a herb and spice levy.

(2) Can the Minister confirm that the total number of votes received in favour of a herb and spice levy was sixteen.

(3) Why did the departmental Chief Plant Protection Officer make statements to Fairfax newspapers on 5 September 2012 stating that no tomato/potato psyllid had been detected in Australia given that, according to the department's Operational Science Program Bulletin published in May 2012, a live psyllid had been detected in New South Wales in a consignment of tomatoes from New Zealand.

(4) What proportion of total departmental biosecurity resources at Australian airports are allocated to flights arriving from New Zealand.

(5) Given that on 12 July 2012, a live psyllid was found in a consignment of tomatoes from New Zealand at the Crewe Place Australian Quarantine and Inspective Service (AQIS) facility in New South Wales, can AQIS advise when the Chief Plant Protection Officer became aware of this incursion.

(6) What is AQIS' involvement in working with customs, Treasury, health, transport and other portfolios in rolling out the Government's new duty-free tobacco restrictions, including how many inter-departmental meetings have been attended, and how many work hours have been spent enforcing this new regulation.

(7) Given that, since 2006 AQIS has required tobacco companies to treat tobacco and non-tobacco materials under quarantine rules, thereby restricting industry's recycling of packaging waste in Australia while, at Australian international airports, bins have been installed to collect excess contraband and airports take excess product 'to the tip' on a daily basis, can the Minister advise how seized tobacco is managed after it is 'taken to the tip', including how it is rendered 'un-smokable' to ensure the product does not find its way into Australia's black market, equivalent to 12 per cent of the legal market.

(8) How many full-time equivalent staffing positions will be reduced within border compliance-connected departments that deliver policy support related to customs, policing, passenger facilitation and quarantine services due to the efficiency dividend implemented during the 2012-13 financial year, including how many of these positions will be at Australian air and sea ports, and can a breakdown per international entry point and agency that will be providing fewer frontline officers be provided.

(9) What proportion of the total amount of confiscated material seized or voluntarily declared at Australian airports originates from passengers on flights arriving from New Zealand.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the senator's question is as follows:

(1) Mr Peter McFarlane of McFarlane Strategic Services was the Principal Investigator for the National Culinary Herb and Spice Industry Levy Consultation project.

During the consultation process some 1000 copies of the levy proposal booklet were printed and distributed to industry participants, including direct mail plus email copies to over 500 stakeholders, with supplementary distribution through regional industry associations, wholesale markets, state agriculture departments, and other industry networks.

A total of 21 regional meetings were convened during October and November 2010. Some 95 stakeholders made direct input on the levy proposal, including 75 verbal depositions at seminars and farm visits, plus 20 email / post submissions were received.

Mr McFarlane received $24 700 in payment for his role as Principal Investigator and

$11 200 in travel and accommodation expenses during the project.

(2) The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry received advice on 10 May 2011 from the Australian Herb and Spice Industry Association of a Declaration of Result for the herb and spice levy ballot issued on 5 May 2011 by the Australian Electoral Commission. The result was that, from the 34 ballot papers returned for scrutiny, there were:

(3) The statement attributed to the Chief Plant Protection Officer that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on 5 September 2012 was a partial extract. The full statement was that "Since 2010, 13000 tonnes of New Zealand tomatoes and capsicums, also susceptible to the disease, have been imported under strict biosecurity rules with no detection of the psyllid or the bacteria in the Australian environment."

This was also stated in DAFF's media release of 17 August 2012 (http://www.daff.gov.au/about/media-centre/dept-releases/2012/zebra-chip).

The detection of a psyllid in a consignment under quarantine supervision does not constitute an "incursion in the Australian environment".

(4) The allocation of biosecurity resources is not allocated against flight origin.

(5) The Senator's question implies that there has been a psyllid incursion in the Australian environment. There has not been a detection or an incursion of the tomato potato psyllid in the Australian environment.

(6) DAFF was not involved in discussions relating to the recent changes in the duty-free tobacco concession. DAFF officers do not enforce this new regulation. DAFF officers will refer tobacco products to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service if such products are detected during the course of a biosecurity inspection.

(7) This question is best put to the Minister for Home Affairs who manages the disposal of tobacco products seized at the border.

(8) There are no Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry staff who deliver policy support functions at airports and mail centres. With respect to operational staff, there has been no reduction in the number of operational staff as a result of the 2012-13 efficiency dividends.

Questions about the impact of the efficiency dividend on the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service; the Australian Federal Police and the Department and Immigration and Citizenship should be put to either the Minister for Home Affairs or the minister for Immigration and Citizenship.

(9) For the period 1 December 2011 to 30 November 2012, 6.5 per cent of seizure lines within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry's Mail and Passenger System (MAPS) were recorded as being seized from or surrendered by passengers arriving on flights from New Zealand.