Avocado Industry and Fruit Fly

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:49): Further supplementary: does the minister understand or care about the implications of these protocols to the avocado industry and growers?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:50): As I mentioned, as far as I am aware, the specific issue of avocados has not been raised with me directly, but I think it is fair to say that on this side of the chamber we are always interested in any kind of barriers to business.

The Hon. N.J. Centofanti: It has been raised with your department plenty of times.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: It is something that we have committed to on many occasions where possible. Reducing red tape is something that we are always working on, and various areas within my department are working on that within different industry sectors. It is also a matter of when it comes to those things that need national agreement, which some of the sorts of things we are talking about can include and others will not, it can be a difficult process. That is unfortunate, and I think it is something that we will continue to work on.