Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (15:18): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries on the topic of the tomato brown rugose fruit virus.

The PRESIDENT: Is leave granted?

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: No; leave is not granted.

The PRESIDENT: No brief explanation, just ask your question, the honourable Leader of the Opposition.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: My questions to the minister are:

1. Before accusing the opposition of mischief-making and given that the minister was not at a meeting held on 10 October in Virginia in regard to tomato brown rugose virus, did the minister view the video recording at the meeting to confirm what was actually said by her department?

2. Does the minister agree that, given the true record of events, the opposition was justified in asking if growers would pay for the cost of testing and was not guilty of mischief-making?

3. Does the minister regret being so assertive of her version of events given that she was not even present at the meeting?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:20): I thank the honourable member for her question. She is referring to a meeting that was set up by PIRSA for and with industry to be able to inform growers. What happened at that meeting was a couple of Liberal politicians decided that they could get involved, not for productive, constructive purposes, but to see what kind—

The Hon. N.J. Centofanti interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —not for productive and constructive purposes from those opposite but instead to try to get a cheap political headline. What I viewed was a transcript of the meeting.