Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, , 7:50:10 to 7:58:38
Analysis of the economic consequences of potential pest incursions on the domestic banana industry, including ABARES modeling and impacts on regional growers in Queensland and New South Wales.
Topics: Biosecurity, Agricultural productivity, Trade policy
Speakers: Dr Peter Finnin, Senator Susan McDonald, Unknown Speaker
What were the answers to the questions on notice on Abear's modeling and the northern farms that were visited?
what Abezz we've commissioned AEZ to do is to uh help us with essentially one part of um the work that we do when we undertake a risk assessment. So, as you would I'm sure appreciate um the overall risk is a is a combination of both the likelihood of something occurring and also the consequences of that um uh occurrence uh happening should it happen. Um and so what we've asked Abears to do is in particular is to help us uh understand the particular impacts on the domestic industry um of um the introduction of one or or any of the pests that we're particularly concerned of. So it's a particular economic analysis to make sure that as we are doing both our likelihood and our consequence assessment that that is informed by an accurate understanding of what the likely uh likely consequences from an economic sense would be of a pest or disease uh entering into Australia. So that work is is well underway. We are expecting that before the end of this calendar year and that will be a key um um component of the risk analysis work and we will include that um abears analysis as a um appendix if you like to the actual report that we published. Oh,
terrific. That was my next question whether that economic analysis will be in the draft report. And of course, uh when you consider the impact of the uh North Queensland part of the industry, you'll also be assessing South Queensland uh and and of course Coffs Harbor and the Northern New South Wales growers.
>> Correct. The analysis is to give us a full picture of what the potential impacts on banana growing um across Australia. Now, obviously a lot of that is is concentrated in Queensland, but as you say, New South Wales and even across
Canav, >> exactly. Thank you for reminding me about Canavan. I've been um >> Yeah. Has been been pinged about not not mentioning Canavan more often. Um has the department assessed whether the Philippine registration system meets Australian conditions?
>> Um not specifically at this point in time. um Senator um that would be essentially part of um a next phase if we were to get there. So what what we're doing right now is we're trying to work out well and complete that um assessment of the biocurity risk. Uh work out well are there measures if a particular risk exceeds our appropriate level of protection. So it's greater than a very low level of risk. Um so for example if a the risk of a particular pest u we deem it to be high are there measures that we can put in place to reduce that risk to an acceptable level and so if we determine that there are measures the next phase before any trade could commence would be a conversation with the Filipino authorities about okay you need to implement these measures to reduce this risk. How are you going to demonstrate to us and give us the assurance that we need that you actually can implement those measures and those measures will work effectively. Um, so part of that might be, as you uh suggest, a look at how the Philippines might register production properties and whether or not their current regime would um meet our requirements. But that's sort of a next step. If we get to a point where we say well yes we can we believe we can reduce the risk to an acceptable level um and allow trade to occur safely um then we need to discuss actually how do you implement that in practice in particular to give us the assurance that the measures will do what
>> Cough's coast growers lost their coal supply arrangement in August and are already under pressure. Has the department met Coff's Coast and Northern New South Wales growers as part of the risk analysis?
>> Um I'm not aware specifically of that company that you you've mentioned. Um
>> well Coffs Harbor, that region. Yeah.
>> Um certainly when we went and engaged with stakeholders, we did um go to um that part of of New South Wales um last year. Um I can't recall specifically whether they might have been in the room when we were just talking with them but certainly we are engaging regularly principally through the Australian Bananas ABGC Australian banas growing corporation um with stakeholders regularly um and certainly we will continue to engage with stakeholders
extraordinary that Coohl's is trucking bananas from far north Queensland in preference to buying them from the local growers. I that's not something I expect you to comment on, but I I must be completely gutting to the growers uh who are right there on the doorstep. Um if MoCo or Black Catoga arrived with the imports, what would it cost the industry and who would pay for the response?
Um, Senator, I don't have a specific figure on how much um an incursion would cost. Um, as far as the current arrangements, um, those diseases are covered by the various or the the plant um, deed. And so under current arrangements, we would enter into a cost shared response arrangement. And then that, you know, it's it's somewhat theoretical. Well, I guess you we would have to wait and see how that unfolded as to whether or not it was an incursion that could be managed and eradicated or what the final consequences might be, but certainly it would be subject to the current um cost sharing arrangements uh for disease responses.
>> Well, we know that the cost for the tally growers when there was a disease outbreak for them to eradicate it was um multi-million dollar, wasn't it? So
[clears throat] >> certainly Senator um the cost of responses whether they be plant or animal responses we know that those costs are accelerating uh with every response that we um see uh and certainly you know it's certainly not my objective that u imports of bananas from the Philippines would see that occur. Uh and so we will you know work very diligently on ensuring that we have measures that in place that would manage that risk to Australia's appropriate level of
Um you can understand that growers feel that them sharing sharing the cost of dealing with disease uh following an a decision by government to import a product potentially a disease does doesn't seem very fair does it?
>> I certainly have heard and understand that position. Yes sir.
Um has the government assessed the potential consequences for regional jobs if imported bananas enter the Australian market through that abears work?
>> Um so senator we are required to focus specifically on the biocurity risk. So um as part of assessing biocurity risk what we cannot take account of is what the economic consequences of uh increased competition for example might be. Neither can we take into account the potential benefits to the Australian economy if we were to um enable imports from a particular country. Um so the benefits or disbenefits um from that point of view are not something that we can consider in our biocurity risk assessment. However, we are and this is why we've commissioned the work from Abezz absolutely can and do and is central to what we do um seek to understand what the economic consequences of an incursion um of any of the pests that we're assessing. And so it's that element of it that is a very strong focus of our assessment.
>> Uh so um jobs will be part of that economic assessment
>> as far as it from the point of view of understanding the impacts of an incursion for example of MCO into far north Queensland. Um that would have no doubt an impact on the local economies potentially um jobs in that context. Certainly yes. But from the point of view of saying um enabling imports and let's say they've got great measures and we never have a disease incursion we cannot take account of the benefit or disbenefit of you know the the trade in bananas as such.