House debates Questions without Notice
Apple Imports
Julie Collins Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
2:45 pm
I thank the member for Mayo for her question. As she would be aware, Australian farmers do benefit significantly from our free trade and from fair and free trade across the globe. In fact, around 80 per cent in value and about 70 per cent in volume of Australia's agricultural trade is exported overseas. The member would also be aware that we have an incredibly strong biosecurity system, and our government has been very firm that we won't put at risk our biosecurity in Australia. That's why we've invested over $2 billion since we came to office in terms of our biosecurity.
As the member would be aware, we do have an obligation from trading nations and nations that we trade with to inspect and to go through any processes that they request in relation to two-way trade, and that is what is happening. But I assure her we're not going to compromise on biosecurity. It is not up for negotiation, and no imports will be permitted unless an independent, science based assessment shows that risk can be managed to Australia's appropriate level of protection. Our appropriate level of protection is a deliberately very high standard, and it's designed to make sure that it is very low risk. As I said, we do export, and our farmers benefit from that substantial amount of our agricultural production in Australia. Our trading system is important, our biosecurity system is important and we won't compromise on that.
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