Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-08 Daily Xml

Contents

Biosecurity

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:59): Supplementary: what investment will the Malinauskas government commit to the Labor federal government’s mandatory rollout of sheep and goat ERD in South Australia to improve traceability for biosecurity purposes?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Would it be okay if I call the minister?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, I will give you the opportunity to answer the question.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! You've asked a supplementary question, leader.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, please.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:00): Thank you, Mr President. I thought the Leader of the Opposition wanted to answer her own question.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I would like to listen to the answer, please.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: I have indeed, I believe, answered a very similar question before. The electronic ID is something that was committed to at the agricultural ministers' meetings last year. We have engaged with Livestock SA to produce the plans going forward—

The Hon. N.J. Centofanti interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —which need to be industry led. They need to be appropriate for industry. This is industry that is leading this project in terms of presenting to the state government how it will best be implemented. If those opposite don't think that electronic IDs are suitable, and they don't think that biosecurity is such an important matter that this should be supported, then perhaps they should be saying so. Perhaps they should come out and say that their policy is to oppose the electronic identification of sheep and goats. If that's their policy, then they should be saying so. This is something that is important for biosecurity and something that is being progressed.