Mrs FINOCCHIARO - 2015-02-18
What is the Country Liberals government doing to eradicate banana freckle in the Northern Territory?
Members interjecting.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, if I could have some peace and quiet from the other side I will answer the question, because it is an important one. The member for Drysdale is doing a fantastic job in making sure she is fully briefed and gets pertinent information to her constituents. I congratulate her for the effort she is putting into that. It is a shame the opposition are laughing at this. They clearly think biosecurity in the Northern Territory is a joke.
I am flabbergasted that for all this time we have been responding to the banana freckle situation, everybody on the other side has been quiet. Apparently today, according to the Labor Party, biosecurity is a joke. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
The Territory government, along with its strategic partners, is doing everything it can to eradicate banana freckle in the Territory. We make no apologies for taking this very strong approach. Joining us on our mission is the Commonwealth government, every state and territory government in Australia, and the banana industry. Regardless of their political colour, all the stakeholders are getting on with this national response. It is the largest ever plant pest response in Australia. Let us not forget it is a huge issue and no mean feat.
It goes without saying that in a widespread approach like this there will always be a pocket of resistance. While we would love to keep unaffected banana plants in the ground, science says this approach is not working.
The first 12 months of the eradication response focused only on those premises infected with banana freckle, but it became apparent that approach was not working and banana freckle was too widespread, including in the northern suburbs.
A panel of experts visited the NT and decided the initial approach was unlikely to eradicate the disease, which is why we went to a more extensive course of action to eradicate it. Every day our field teams are removing about 100 plants from properties. They are visiting about 250 properties across the infected areas.
There is a small but vocal group of people opposing this move. I do not say this to be combative, but the resistance and prevention of our officers from doing their job is compromising the biosecurity of the Northern Territory. I ask people to take that into consideration.
Together we must work to eradicate this disease. It is critical for the future of the banana industry. If we have banana freckle in the Northern Territory, there is no future for the banana industry.
Members interjecting.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, if I could have some peace and quiet from the other side I will answer the question, because it is an important one. The member for Drysdale is doing a fantastic job in making sure she is fully briefed and gets pertinent information to her constituents. I congratulate her for the effort she is putting into that. It is a shame the opposition are laughing at this. They clearly think biosecurity in the Northern Territory is a joke.
I am flabbergasted that for all this time we have been responding to the banana freckle situation, everybody on the other side has been quiet. Apparently today, according to the Labor Party, biosecurity is a joke. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
The Territory government, along with its strategic partners, is doing everything it can to eradicate banana freckle in the Territory. We make no apologies for taking this very strong approach. Joining us on our mission is the Commonwealth government, every state and territory government in Australia, and the banana industry. Regardless of their political colour, all the stakeholders are getting on with this national response. It is the largest ever plant pest response in Australia. Let us not forget it is a huge issue and no mean feat.
It goes without saying that in a widespread approach like this there will always be a pocket of resistance. While we would love to keep unaffected banana plants in the ground, science says this approach is not working.
The first 12 months of the eradication response focused only on those premises infected with banana freckle, but it became apparent that approach was not working and banana freckle was too widespread, including in the northern suburbs.
A panel of experts visited the NT and decided the initial approach was unlikely to eradicate the disease, which is why we went to a more extensive course of action to eradicate it. Every day our field teams are removing about 100 plants from properties. They are visiting about 250 properties across the infected areas.
There is a small but vocal group of people opposing this move. I do not say this to be combative, but the resistance and prevention of our officers from doing their job is compromising the biosecurity of the Northern Territory. I ask people to take that into consideration.
Together we must work to eradicate this disease. It is critical for the future of the banana industry. If we have banana freckle in the Northern Territory, there is no future for the banana industry.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016