Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator Canavan. In January, adult fruit flies were detected on Flinders Island and in north-west Tasmania. There are daily reports of additional fruit flies being detected. People are still arriving in Tasmania by sea and air without biosecurity checks. As the federal minister responsible for biosecurity, what advice has the minister sought about the consequences of the Tasmanian Liberal government cutting $1 million from Tasmania's biosecurity budget and people arriving from mainland Australia without biosecurity checks?

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Urquhart for her question. Not being the minister directly responsible, I have not myself sought advice, but I do have some information here for you, Senator. We are working in close collaboration with our state governments, who are managing detections and outbreaks of fruit fly. On-the-ground management of native pests is a responsibility for state governments and landholders.

You mentioned Tasmania, Senator Urquhart, and the information I have here is that it is providing a $2 million support package for growers, distributors and retailers of fruit. Tasmania and other states with fruit-fly-free areas have a long and successful history of maintaining freedom from fruit flies. They have well-established monitoring systems to allow early detection, significant public awareness campaigns to facilitate the reporting of fruit flies and well-developed response plans to eradicate fruit flies quickly. State governments managing outbreaks have implemented measures to control the movement of fruit fly host produce from affected areas and are working—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Canavan, please resume your seat. Senator Urquhart on point of order.

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A point of order, Mr President. My question was: what advice has the minister sought about the consequences? I know the stuff he is talking about. I've heard from the Tasmanian government about their package. I've heard about the fruit fly traps. My question was: what advice has the minister sought about the consequences of the Tasmanian Liberal government cutting $1 million from Tasmania's biosecurity budget and people still arriving in the ports in Tasmania from mainland Australia without biosecurity checks? What's the advice that the minister has received in relation to those issues?

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Urquhart, points of order are not a chance to re-state the question. Ministers are allowed to address part of the question. I cannot instruct—

Senator Wong interjecting—

Can I please complete what I say before you rise, Senator Wong. Ministers are allowed to address parts of the question. I cannot instruct them how to. I take the opportunity, as I let you then, to remind the minister of the terms of the second part of your question. Senator Wong?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, it is customary for a questioner to be able to refer to aspects of the question to enable you to rule on the point of order. There seems to be some reflexive suggestion from the chair that we are not allowed to refer to a question that's been asked. That is germane to making the point of order on direct relevance.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Absolutely, Senator Wong. As has been the ruling of people prior to me, that does not necessarily constitute the re-reading of the question. I let Senator Urquhart—

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She didn't re-read it.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In that case, my apologies. It seemed very similar to the notes I had. Senator Canavan.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I mentioned, I have not done that myself. I thought the question was: what advice have I sought? I'm happy to answer that, but I have not sought specific advice, not being the direct minister. But, as I have said, we are working with state and territory governments to make sure we manage these very important issues, including with the Hodgman government, which is investing $2 million to do so.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Urquhart, a supplementary question?

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Has the Tasmanian Liberal government made any representations to the Australian government for additional support for this biosecurity emergency? If so, what did it request and when was the request made?

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm not aware of any such requests, but I'll take that on notice and provide what information I can.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Urquhart, a final supplementary question.

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Doesn't the discovery of fruit fly show that the Turnbull and Hodgman governments have failed to safeguard Tasmania's vital agricultural sector?

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I reject that assertion. We are investing significant amounts of money in biosecurity. I think we can agree that biosecurity is one of the most important things. We must protect in this nation to maintain our image as a clean, green supplier of food and agricultural products. That is why we committed an additional $200 million to build a modern biosecurity system, as set out in the Agricultural competitiveness white paper. It is also true that the total expenditure for biosecurity this financial year is $752.7 million. That is an increase of $149.3 million, or 25 per cent, since the coalition government came into power.

We are taking these issues very seriously and will continue to work with state and territory governments to keep our borders safe from pests and disease and to keep our image strong as a country that delivers clean, green and safe agricultural products to the world.