Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend business of the Senate notice of motion No. 1 to change the committee from the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee, and I inform the chamber that Senator Sterle will also be co-sponsoring the motion.

Leave granted.

I, and also on behalf of Senator Sterle, move the motion as amended:

That the following matter be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee for inquiry and report by 10 October 2022:

a. the adequacy of Australia's biosecurity measures and response preparedness, in particular with respect to foot-and-mouth disease and varroa mite;

b. response to and implementation of previous reports into biosecurity; and any related matters.

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Foot and mouth disease entering Australia is a clear and present threat to Australia's livestock industry, family farms and the world's protein supply. I do not believe Minister Watt is handling FMD well. One Nation wants an inquiry, not a cover-up. We acknowledge Senator Whish-Wilson and others who have worked with Senator Ciccone to modify this. We would not support the original motion, but we will support this amended motion.

Why would you refer FMD to a government controlled legislation committee unless the intent were to cover up? Minister Watt is out of his depth. Yesterday in question time, Senator Watt replied to my foot-and-mouth-disease questions with responses that may have misled the public and the Senate. When admitting to having one million FMD vaccines produced and stored in the UK, Minister Watt said that vaccines could not be produced until we know the strain involved. What are the vaccines in the UK? And he said that he knows the Indonesian strain. I look forward to a proper inquiry to get to the bottom of this.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In recognition of the impact of foot-and-mouth disease on our rural and regional communities, particularly on our livestock industries and supply chains, I'd like to thank the chamber for the collaborative work that has gone on with the crossbench, with the Greens and with the Labor Party to send this inquiry to the appropriate Senate committee, which is the rural and regional affairs references committee.

We note that the terms of reference are not as broad as we would have liked in the references moved by Senator Canavan and other rural and regional senators in this place, but we do note in the reference from Senator Ciccone that part 3 states 'any related matters'. So I'm just flagging to Senators Ciccone and Sterle that the matters raised in Senator Canavan's terms of reference will be pursued in the committee under that part of the motion.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a very short statement.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Greens would also like to put on the record our thanks for a collaborative approach to this, and also for the inclusion of varroa mite—the infestation which of course has got a lot of beekeepers and the honey industry very concerned right around the country. It's also, we believe, a matter of national significance, and that can be examined as part of a broader biosecurity references committee through rural and regional affairs.

So we'd like to thank the chamber. This is what the Australian people voted for: a collaborative, constructive approach to dealing with the major challenges that we face in this country.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm just going to make a statement before I put the motion. I advise senators that due to an error in the Notice Paper, Senator Ciccone's notice is not shown in full. The correct notice has been circulated in the chamber and included on the Dynamic Red. Senator McKenzie.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Canavan I withdraw his reference to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee about foot and mouth, varroa mite and, obviously, lumpy skin disease, recognising that the committee will be investigating those matters as a result of the previous inquiry.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question now is that the motion as moved by Senator Ciccone be agreed to.

Question agreed to.