Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, zoonotic. It is an area of human health that has been the focus of so much science around the world. Before the move to cancel the CRC on biosecurity in 2010, Australia ran this area. We do not run it because we are the smartest; we run it because we have the best relationship with the smartest in the country. We now have the emergence of the Nipah virus, and the great tragedy in Australia is that we are so vulnerable because we have all of the vectors here. We know with the hendra virus it is about bats, it is about horses and it is about people—that is all we know. We have a vast amount to learn. With the Nipah virus we have a far wider range of vectors. We have everything from ferrets and pigs to horses and cats. Where I come from we have flying foxes in close proximity to all of those animals.

This is not just a small disease that comes through and gives people a cold. Between late 1988 and March of the following year, the Nipah virus was responsible for some 105 deaths. Between 1998 and 1999, it spread from Nipah at the northern end of Malaysia down to the southern end of Asia, and by the time that epidemic came over, 260 people had been affected, of which 105 died. This is an absolutely savage disease and, again, it is part of the Nipah virus family. This is a family that we need to really carefully look at. I note in the almost flippant answer given by the minister today to the very sensible and serious question from Senator Back that he said: ‘Look, one source of advice is all we need. CSIRO are far better equipped.’ That is what he said today. The Australian Biosecurity CRC consulted with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, CSIRO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Consortium of Conservation Medicine of New York, the international Wildlife Trust, the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Unit of Bangladesh, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in the United Kingdom, regional and country veterinarians, and infectious diseases physicians. It goes on and on because it was a coalition of individuals that had the intellectual horsepower and the capacity to continue to deal with one of the most significant threats to this country—that is, zoonotic diseases.

We have already heard about swine flu, and I have great concerns that in New South Wales we have seen the virility of the disease as it returns from people back to pigs. We had a group of people who were absolutely dedicated to this, but we just told them: ‘Don’t bother. In 2010 it’s all over.’ I am sure they are not even sitting around at the moment; they are scurrying around trying to find another job. We have a minister who flippantly says: ‘Look, we don’t need all those people. We’ll just use one of them that’s already there, and they’re going to provide us with scientific answers to protect Australians—not only their health but in fact their lives.’ This is a CRC that has far more importance in the current context of biosecurity threats in this country than any other CRC, but the fact is the minister has said, ‘I’ve left it to this independent inquiry,’ which has absolutely no expertise in the matter, and so there is not a lot of probity involved. But I can tell you right now, Mr Deputy President: Australians will not forget the day that this minister ignored the biosecurity future of this country and, in fact, the lives of Australians.