Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note the opposition supports this bill and I seek leave to incorporate the opposition's second reading speech in Hansard to facilitate proceedings in the chamber this evening.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AMENDMENT BILL 2016

I rise on behalf of the Opposition to support the Biological Control Amendment Bill 2016

To most people, the greatest threat to Australia's agricultural sector is drought. No doubt it is.

But there is a more constant and pernicious threat - invasive weeds and pest animals.

Studies put the loss of agricultural production attributable to pest animals and weed species as high as $10 billion each year.

Of course, pest animals and weeds are also a threat to our unique biodiversity.

Part of the response to pest animals and weeds is biological control.

The Biological Control Act 1984, which we are amending today, in conjunction with state and territory legislation, provides the legislative framework for assessing biological control activities to ensure that they are in the public interest and that safety is foremost in the regulatory mind.

The Biological Control Amendment Bill 2016 provides clarity and greater certainty for biological control programs.

In particular, the bill clarifies the definition of an organism under the Biological Control Act.

This Bill clarifies the definition of an organism under the Biological Control Act 1984 to reflect the growing use of viruses and sub-viral agent organisms for biological control activities.

Viruses are known to be effective agents for biological control in a range of tools available to farmers, land managers and the community.

The classification of viruses as organisms and as living entities is a matter of ongoing scientific debate. In light of this debate, the Bill clarifies the definition of an organism for the purpose of the Act, and omits the term 'live', to remove any ambiguity.

The Act only applies in relation to the Australian Capital Territory (including Jervis Bay Territory)

The Act is supported by 'mirror' biological control legislation in all states and the Northern Territory.

The Bill makes a provision to ensure that the minor amendments made to the Act do not impact the validity of 'relevant state law' declarations previously made under the Act to support the mirror legislation scheme.

The Bill will not affect the existing basic scientific, technical or safety procedures and standards applying to biological control.

This means that before any biological control can be used as management tool for pests and weeds it must go through a suite of approval processes to avoid any unintended consequences or ongoing adverse impacts associated with biological control programs.

Biological control agents undergo extensive testing to assess risk to domestic agricultural and native species.

The release of a biological control agent requires approvals under the Quarantine Act 1908 — which will be replaced by the Biosecurity Act in June this year, the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code Act 1994.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Biological Control Amendment Bill 2015 amends the Biological Control Act 1994 to support national programs for the biological control of damaging pests and weeds. It will also provide greater certainty for stakeholders who research, deliver and benefit from biological control programs.

These agents have been used successfully in Australia in the past and will be continue to be an important tool for controlling pests and weeds and mitigating their impact on the economy, the environment and the community.

This bill specifically seeks to amend the act by clarifying the definitions of an organism to specifically include viruses and subviral agents. The definitions of an organism are a matter of an ongoing scientific debate, and the amendments will remove any ambiguity, making it clear into the future that, despite the scientific debate, the act is intended to support the declaration of viruses as agents and targets for biological control activities.

The bill will support the Australian government's $1.2 million commitment to support the rollout of a new strain of rabbit calicivirus. This is part of a long-term national program to mitigate the significant environmental impact wrought by rabbits. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.