Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, upon notice, on 31 October 2011:

(1) Can a copy be provided of the latest data on the distribution of the Asian honey bee in Australia and, in particular, as a direct result of the 2007 incursion in Cairns.

(2) Can a copy be provided of the evidence (including data) that supports the view that the Asian honey bee cannot be eradicated.

(3) What Government expenditure has been incurred to date for the current field season in containment of the Asian honey bee.

(4) Can a copy be provided of the data collected during the 2011 field season for the Asian honey bee, which has bearing on its eradicability.

(5) Does the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation still hold the view that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the Asian honey bee is ineradicable.

(6) What relevant in-house expertise does the department have in relation to assessing the Asian honey bee incursion.

(7) What advice has the department received on the spread of the Asian honey bee and the impact it will have on:

  (a) incidental pollination services;

  (b) paid pollination services; and

  (c) Australian biodiversity.

(8) What measures has the department advised will be required to avoid or reduce these expected impacts.

(9) How much funding from the $2 million allocated by the Government for the Asian honey bee will be allocated for the functioning of the Scientific Advisory Group.

(10) What funding has been allocated to support any urgent research that might be identified by the Scientific Advisory Group.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable senator's questions is as follows:

(1) Please refer to the map at Attachment 1(available from the Senate Table Office).

(2) Please refer to Attachment F(available from the Senate Table Office) of the response to questions taken on notice on 31 March 2011 at the Senate Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee—Inquiry into the science underpinning the inability to eradicate the Asian honey bee (AHB).

(3) The Australian Government is providing $2 000 000 from July 2011 to June 2013 for a Transition to Management Program for AHB.

(4) No new data has come to hand during the current field season that may have a bearing on the technical feasibility of successful eradication of AHB.

(5) The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is not able to comment on the views of CSIRO.

(6) The department has the following relevant expertise: Dr Glynn Maynard who has a PhD in entomology on bees with approximately 16 years working on bee issues within the department and Dr Iain East is an epidemiologist with approximately 9 years working on bee issues within the department. In addition the department uses the resources of the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) as required, and draws on extensive experience from within the Animal and Plant Divisions for the management of emergency pest and disease incursions.

(7) The department has continued to work with pollination reliant industries, pollination providers and researchers through the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and Horticulture Australia Limited to secure advice on the impact of the AHB on future pollination services.

The impact that AHB spread may have on incidental pollination services currently is unknown.

In the short–term, it is possible that paid pollination services may benefit from any service increases. Longer term impacts remain unknown.

Currently the impact on Australian Biodiversity is unclear. The Sustineo report on AHB states that "There is very little (if any) published evidence of the environmental impact of Apis cerana".

(8) One of the projects in the Transition to Management Program for the AHB will develop environmentally friendly AHB suppression methods for use in areas deemed ecologically significant and at threat from AHB infestation.

(9) The plan for the transitional funding has been published on Plant Health Australia's website at http://asianhoneybee.net.au/.

(10) Please refer to the answer to Question 9.