House of Assembly: Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Contents

Fruit Fly

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (15:49): Supplementary question for the minister: did the minister make the original decision to ban fruit from lunch boxes throughout greater metropolitan Adelaide and who made the subsequent decision to change that position on the weekend?

The Hon. D.K.B. BASHAM (Finniss—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:49): I thank the leader for the question. The government has not changed its position at all. These are very longstanding protocols that have been in for many years, including under the previous government. They are nationally agreed protocols. We are following those protocols—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Last term, my son could take fruit to school. He can't now.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is warned for a second time.

The Hon. D.K.B. BASHAM: As recently as an outbreak in Loxton in 2018, exactly the same request was made for fruit not to be put into lunch boxes. This is a longstanding approach to make sure that people do not move fruit off their properties in outbreak zones because we need to protect those people in the industry.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Who made the decision?

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. D.K.B. BASHAM: There are 37½ thousand people employed in this industry and we are there to protect them. We are doing everything we can. We are throwing everything we can at it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Members on my right and on my left, order!