Wednesday, 14 August 2024

Biosecurity

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (19:01): (1058) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Agriculture and concerns biosecurity, in particular the adequacy of the rural and regional truck wash network. In September last year AgVic used money raised from levies from the sale of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs and their carcasses in Victoria to commission research on these important facilities. The final report of the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) was published as the Truck Wash and Effluent Disposal Review. I welcome this step but want to update the minister on concerns which have been raised with me about how quickly the situation has changed. In essence since the completion of the review, truck wash facilities in Warrnambool and now Camperdown have closed, leaving a substantial gap in coverage. The previous network worked because, although the number of sites was relatively low, their placement gave good geographical coverage, like the knots in a net. The closure of the Warrnambool and Camperdown truck washes leaves a gaping hole in that net.

The Warrnambool saleyard facility was particularly crucial. The AgVic DEECA review I named earlier placed it in its highest use category at more than 40 hours per week. Taken together with the closure of the Camperdown saleyard site, this now means that the report’s conclusion is no longer accurate. While it may have been true in September 2023 that, and I quote:

The review found strong evidence of a functional regional and rural truck wash network serving the needs of the livestock industry across Victoria …

This is no longer the case. Lacking this infrastructure could have substantial biosecurity consequences as well as costing enormous amounts of time and money by necessitating long journeys to alternative facilities. Farmers in the south-west, the heart of dairy country and close to recent avian flu outbreak sites, are deeply concerned by this situation. Given the importance of this infrastructure and substantial biosecurity levies already raised from the industries involved, the action I seek from the minister is a new and rapid review of the network and a commitment to build adequate new facilities where substantial gaps are found.