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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-10-31 Daily Xml
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Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Primary Industries on the topic of the tomato brown rugose fruit virus.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: There have been some concerns raised by growers about the testing in terms of the disparity between positive test results despite absence of phenotypic symptoms, differential results between official testing and shadow testing carried out by growers and, most pertinent, the turnaround time taken for test results to come back. Some growers have reported waiting six weeks for test results to come back, and that was when only 18 trace properties were being tested. I note that there is now a local testing lab which is in operation, which is most welcome news to growers.

To access the WA markets, growers are required to test within 10 days of the planned harvest date. As we near peak harvest season, there are concerns about the ability of the testing labs to be able to cope with the volume of testing required. It was said at the meeting at Virginia Horticulture on 10 October that there were only two labs working interstate and then the additional lab now here in South Australia. Growers were discouraged from testing unless absolutely necessary for fear of overloading those testing laboratories.

One grower has asked how it will be possible that the laboratory, even working around the clock, will be able to keep up with the testing within 10 days of harvest to enable that WA market access. He has been told that PIRSA has been inundated with calls for testing, and the lead time for testing is still unknown. My questions to the minister are:

1. When will the new laboratory in South Australia be at peak capacity?

2. Can the minister provide an assurance that the required tests will be completed within the timeframes to meet the WA market access requirements without growers being made to wear a loss?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:36): I thank the honourable member for her question. It is quite true that I was recently able to announce that we do now have a laboratory here in South Australia, under the auspices of SARDI, that has been accredited by the federal government to be able to test for the tomato brown rugose virus. That is a very welcome step forward.

As I think I have mentioned in this place before, as soon as it became clear that there were bottlenecks in the interstate labs, in Victoria and New South Wales, PIRSA took steps to begin the process of being able to have an accredited laboratory here in South Australia. I am very pleased that that has now been able to occur.

It will still remain an option to send samples to those two interstate laboratories as well if the South Australian laboratory is not able to cope—in terms of cope with the volumes. Obviously, that is not the preference. The purpose of having a local lab is to cut down on the travel times required to be able to send the samples interstate and also to reduce the risk of having to wait in line, if you like, because obviously those interstate labs have other work that they are also responsible for. I would certainly like to extend my thanks to SARDI and to the department for all the work they have put into being able to get this laboratory up and running and accredited.

In terms of when the peak capacity will be, obviously that is not going to be an exact science. We are heading into the prime time for tomatoes, and there will be a number of growers who either already export or wish to export to Western Australia. The process for them is to be able to meet the requirements that Western Australia has put onto the export of tomatoes to their state. They need to prove that their product is free of the virus through the following sampling method and certification process.

The WA conditions specify that crops must be sampled no more than 10 days prior to harvest and return a negative result for the tomato brown rugose virus. They must be certified by a PIRSA plant health inspector for each consignment of produce, confirming that it is free from that virus. During the eradication and proof of freedom elements of the response, as I have mentioned before, PIRSA is absorbing the costs of any required sampling and testing that takes place here that producers may need to undertake as part of this process to enable market access.

PIRSA has developed an expression of intent form for the growers who are wishing to access the Western Australian market and that form was distributed to industry on 22 October. The other two accredited diagnostic labs continue to operate and I would certainly hope that, with the increased workforce that will be at the South Australian lab, we will be able to manage what is an important process for the very important tomato-growing industry in South Australia.

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