Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McMahon, a vet, for her question and I know she has a strong interest in a robust border security system. Biosecurity underpins $60 billion worth of our agricultural production and $49 billion worth of agricultural exports, each of which are vital contributors to jobs and growth, particularly in regional and rural Australia. When we get biosecurity breaches—such as the khapra beetle, which could cost Australia $1.47 billion per year over a 20-year period, or the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease, which could absolutely devastate our $16 billion livestock industry—then, for those of us who care about the profitability and resilience of rural and regional Australia and indeed the national economy, having a robust 21st-century biosecurity system is absolutely paramount.

But it's not just about protecting our agricultural industries. It's also about our $6 trillion worth of environmental assets and our animal and human health. One in five jobs in Australia is related to trade, and a tough biosecurity system protects our reputation as a trading nation on the global stage. Our pest- and disease-free status is iconic and unique, and it really underpins the value of so many of the products we export to the world. We will not take a backwards step when it comes to keeping our borders safe from pests and disease. Whether it be the almost-incursion last year of the brown marmorated stink bug—the things I didn't know 140 days ago!—which saw ships turned away, or the outbreak of African swine fever that we've watched across Europe, through South-East Asia and in Timor-Leste just 650 kilometres from Darwin, we will not take a backwards step in keeping our borders secure.