Peter McGauran (Gippsland, National Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member. He speaks of real jobs. Obviously, to be employed or seconded to AQIS or Biosecurity Australia would be a real job. We would not be creating jobs to alleviate unemployment issues. Obviously, a significant number of Indigenous persons have a lot to offer our efforts in these fields. We would fully train them as we do all of our officers. We would of course assign job descriptions. We would not waste their time any more than they would want to waste ours. If the member is suggesting that we should—and I am sure he is not—employ people to solve a social or employment problem, then I do not think I am going to be of a great deal of assistance. But if he is suggesting we should look more closely at acquiring the skills and experience that Indigenous persons throughout Northern Australia can bring to the tasks of quarantine and biosecurity surveillance then I agree with him.

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