Senate debates

Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Committees

Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee; Report

4:05 pm

Photo of Glenn SterleGlenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Pursuant to order, I present the report of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee on the future of beekeeping and pollination service industries in Australia, together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to the committee.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I will not take much of the Senate's time as there is a lot of business on at the moment, but I want to quickly acknowledge the hard work of my fellow committee members—Senator Gallagher, Senator Macdonald, Senator Whish-Wilson, Senator Ruston and Senator Xenophon. If I have missed anyone, I do apologise—there are so many references going on through the committee.

I want to say to the beekeeping industry and the pollination industry out there that we are very, very mindful of the importance of the health of Australia's bee industry not only for honey but also for broader agriculture and horticulture. Three previous inquiries have been held—all House of Representatives inquiries: one in February 2007, one in June 2008 and then one in August 2009. I hope we have given the beekeeping industry and the pollination industry some comfort that we certainly do take their issues seriously. There are no fewer than some 10 recommendations that will be out there for everyone to read and dissect. I thank the submitters and of course the witnesses at those hearings and I wish them all very well. Pleasant reading. No doubt the phone will melt.

4:07 pm

Photo of Anne RustonAnne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the report The future of the beekeeping and pollination service industries in Australia and to support the recommendations in that report. A number of key concerns were raised by the beekeeping industry during our inquiry, which made me realise how important the beekeeping industry is to Australia not just because many people love to eat the wonderful honey products but also because of the pollination services bees provide. There is a very real threat from the Varroa mite, which is endemic in bees in most other places around the world. So far we have managed to keep it out of Australia. It is very important that we continue to maintain our biosecurity measures with respect to our Australian beekeepers because if we had an incursion of the Varroa mite into Australia, were it to take out all of our native bee population we would not have enough bee colonies to enable cross pollination activities.

The industry faces a number of other serious challenges, including the use of agricultural chemicals. Farmers need to understand how very detrimental chemicals can be to kept bee colonies, particularly some of the neonicotinoids used on horticultural products. There is also the issue of spray drift. The chemical industry needs to ensure that chemicals are clearly labelled, so that users understand the potential detrimental effect on bee colonies. Beekeepers require access to huge tracts of land and to a wide variety of native species to ensure quality and consistency of their product. Many of our state governments have locked beekeepers out of national parks, denying them access to that resource, one they desperately need.

Finally, the bee inquiry once again brought up the hoary old chestnut of labelling. We saw some very tragic examples of a lack of truth in labelling. We saw imported honey coming into Australia clearly dishonestly marked as Australia honey by putting pictures of the Australian continent and an outline of the map of Australia on a product which was merely sugar syrup which had been force fed to bees in foreign countries and then imported as Australian honey. Despite the fact that some honey was labelled 'Made in Australia', it was only bottled in Australia.

The bee industry faces many challenges. We can assist with some of those challenges, particularly biosecurity and keeping our clean industry pest and disease free. We need to make sure there is truth in labelling so that our honey producers are not damaged. We also need to understand the huge add-on benefit gained from pollination by our bee populations. It was a fantastic inquiry. I support the recommendations of the report.

4:11 pm

Photo of Peter Whish-WilsonPeter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

I would like to add to Senator Ruston's comments and to Senator Sterle's comments. This was an excellent inquiry. I enjoyed very much meeting beekeepers in other states. The honey industry is very important in Tasmania. My office contacted all the honey producers and beekeepers in the state and sought their feedback and submissions for this inquiry. No doubt in Tasmania there are peculiar circumstances. Each state has points of differentiation on issues for beekeepers. Right across the board the feedback was very strong that we have had a number of inquiries already into the health of the beekeeping industry and it is high time the government acted on the recommendations of this inquiry, which build on recommendations from earlier inquiries. A couple of the witnesses said three strikes and the industry is out. Particular areas are funding from research, cooperation with industry to raise funds particularly concerning agricultural crops and spraying regimes. Senator Ruston talked about access to native forests, which was certainly an issue when we visited Murray Bridge. In Tasmania, access to native forests and deforestation practices have been a major issue. I would like to point out that the honey industry are big supporters of the recent listing of 74,000 hectares of World Heritage forest, which beekeepers will be able to access.

As a winemaker, I thoroughly enjoyed the blind tasting of honey at Murray Bridge. I did not realise honeys were so different and that there is so much differentiation. I think the industry has enormous potential to sell not only the differences in honey from different parts of the country but also the different plant species and forests the bees were working. More research is needed but one issue which became very obvious to the inquiry was the impact of climate change, particularly extreme heat. The industry was very open about climate change. None of them were trying to duck and weave on this issue. Last summer a number of apiaries lost all their bees because of extreme weather. Beekeepers went to great lengths to manage the risks associated with extreme weather events— not just the health of their apiaries but the impacts of climate change on ecosystems, biodiversity and access to resources. These pressures are making it harder and harder for this industry to survive. Senator Siewert, who has also been involved with the inquiry, would throw her weight behind the recommendations of the report and congratulate the committee for all its hard work.

4:14 pm

Photo of Ian MacdonaldIan Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Because of the time constraints this afternoon, I will not keep the chamber long. But I do want to endorse the comments of the chairman and Senator Ruston. I was particularly interested in the Queensland submissions. Curiously, as other speakers have mentioned, in Queensland there are national parks where bees could propagate and do their thing but they are banned from all of the national parks in Queensland, which is a ridiculous situation that really needs to be changed.

Can I just say to all of those people who gave evidence—particularly those in Queensland: we do hear what you are talking about; we do hear your issues; you are not alone. The recommendations made by the committee unanimously are recommendations which I certainly hope the government will pursue.

In concluding, I want to say I was pleased that Dave Elson, an old friend of mine—and interestingly the husband of the former member for Forde, Kay Elson, who for years tried to explain to me different things about the bee industry, particularly its pollination impacts and the essential nature of the industry in relation to so many other agricultural crops—was able to come along and give evidence. I want to assure him and all of his colleagues in Queensland that their message has been heard, and we will try to ensure that the recommendations of the committee are indeed actioned.

Question agreed to.