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

asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, upon notice, on 14 January 2013:

Can copies be provided of any reviews or assessments conducted by the department, or on the department's behalf, on the myrtle rust incursion, including any that cover the following topics:

(a) the adequacy of surveillance measures;

(b) the basis on which decisions by the National Management Group on eradication were made; and

(c) import decisions or import conditions for products that are at risk of being contaminated with myrtle rust or guava rust spores.

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 question is as follows:

The interim myrtle rust eradication program was conducted under the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed which provides for financial and efficiency reviews. National Management Group did not seek an efficiency review of the interim myrtle rust response.

The department has not separately reviewed or assessed surveillance measures or decisions of National Management Group relating to the interim myrtle rust response.

The department is currently reviewing the import conditions for myrtaceous timber in consultation with the Australian Forest Products Association. The review will be finalised in the first half of 2013.