Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Senator McKenzie. Can the minister please tell us the benefits to Australian farmers and the wider community of having a strong biosecurity system?

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to 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.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McMahon, your first supplementary?

Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister update the Senate about how the coalition government's economic plan is helping to defend Australia against African swine fever?

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

Well, when you have a strong economic plan, you can do a whole lot of things—like respond to risks to the economy which would be incurred if we got African swine fever onshore. We are protecting our 2,700 pig producers and the 36,000 Australians who work in the pork industry and making sure that this disease, which kills 80 per cent of the pigs it infects, is kept away from our shores. When you've got the financial resources at your disposal, you can send Suki to Darwin to check the nine direct flights from Dili when you need to. You can actually ramp up the inspections at the border and increase the X-raying of parcels from affected countries. Through those measures, we've been able to detect and stop over 27 tonnes of cooked pork product from affected ASF countries from reaching our shore. That is responsiveness we need.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McMahon, your second supplementary?

Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister advise the Senate on risks to our strong biosecurity system?

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

Yes, I can talk about the risks. The risks to our biosecurity system are complacency—complacency from industry, complacency from importers, and complacency from travellers and people who think it is okay to bring that home-cooked sausage back for their son and daughter who may be studying at one of our great institutions. They think they won't be able to purchase high-quality food in Australia, so they pack their suitcases full of cooked pork products, quail eggs and maybe some squid, and away they go.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Squid? How much squid is brought into the country?

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

Yes, squid. On the weekend, a woman from Vietnam arrived on our shores with over 10 kilograms of material that was a significant biosecurity breach. She breached our legislation, and we have sent her back to Vietnam—and she won't be the last. (Time expired)