Mildura electorate
Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (14:52): (852) My constituency question today is for the Minister for Agriculture and comes from food producers in my region, and it is about Queensland fruit fly. The question is: given the recent announcement that the government will be cutting funding for education about and management of Queensland fruit fly, which will absolutely decimate our multibillion-dollar agriculture industry, how does the minister plan to manage or eradicate the Queensland fruit fly in the state’s north-west and right throughout Victoria? I am not sure if you know, but South Australia does not actually have a fruit fly population. In our part of the world, which abuts the South Australian and New South Wales borders, there are owners and food producers that produce on both sides of those borders, which makes logistics really, really tough. With the recent announcement of funding cuts to education – Sunraysia Pest Control have done an amazing job of management so far – there is big concern in the community.