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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-11-26 Daily Xml
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Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (15:09): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries on the topic of primary production.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: Two weeks ago in this chamber, I asked the minister a question regarding the delay in the testing results for Cafcakis Produce. At the time, the minister conceded that she herself had not spoken to the Cafcakises and refused to commit to the chamber that she would do so in the future.

Last Friday, the Cafcakises were informed by the department that, despite having waited for over three weeks for test results, only half of their results had been processed and that further testing was likely to take another three to four weeks. This has resulted in the Cafcakises having to dispose of produce because they cannot send it to their market order. My questions to the minister are:

1. Since our last question time, has she personally spoken with the Cafcakis family about their situation? If not, why not?

2. Is the minister aware that markets are saturated in the Eastern States due to oversupplies, which have caused prices to bottom out for many growers now forced to send to these states due to her government's failure to deliver test results in a timely manner?

3. What does the minister say to these growers who feel that they have been let down by her government promising testing turnaround times that they cannot deliver and who now, because of these delays, cannot send fruit to WA and Queensland markets?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:10): I thank the honourable member for her question. I have just outlined the testing in regard to the particular case that she is referring to. As I said, on 31 October further tests were taken to allow for interstate market access. Those samples were sent to New South Wales because, at that time, the Adelaide lab was not fully operational. PIRSA is currently awaiting those results.

When it became clear, earlier on in this tomato brown rugose fruit virus response, that relying solely on the interstate labs was going to be problematic—remembering that there were only two labs available in the entire country who were accredited to test for tomato brown rugose fruit virus—we took action to establish a lab here in South Australia. It's the first time that there has been a South Australian lab established for this particular virus, and I am very pleased that it is up and running. I would also like to acknowledge the hard work of those working at SARDI in attempting to get the testing done as quickly as possible. However, the case that is referred to occurred before that lab was fully operational, and therefore the tests had to go to New South Wales.

As a government, we are obviously very keen that results come back as soon as possible. We have had all the attempts to have those returned from New South Wales after being assessed—that would obviously be the best outcome. Unfortunately, it's something that we are not able to directly impact. We have asked for priority but the results have not as yet come back; at least, they haven't in terms of my most recent update.

I think it's also worth pointing out that, notwithstanding the difficulties that there are for some of the growers—and I certainly do not underestimate those—on the whole there is strong support in industry for the response to this virus. A media release released by the Horticulture Coalition just this week states, and I quote:

In a business that relies heavily on the ability for SA growers to trade produce across State Borders, steps taken by PIRSA and the State Government have been taken with the foremost intention to instil confidence in other States. Due diligence has been followed to ensure the minimisation of the spread.

It goes on:

It's important to emphasize that while there is pain and disruption in the industry, we—

'we' being the Horticulture Coalition—

fully support the actions taken by PIRSA to prevent the spread of this virus to other farms. Their decisive measures are essential to protecting the future of tomato farming in our region.

I have said on a number of occasions here before that we are subject to getting national agreement. This is a national response to a disease, a virus, that hasn't been here in Australia before. That means that there is constant work with the other states and territories, with the commonwealth government and with industry in terms of what the response to this virus is.

I am glad that, as of last Friday, there is now an agreement by all those I have mentioned as to what the national response is, and that refers to the eradication, the disinfecting and so on that needs to occur and what the process is for proof of freedom. That has taken a lot of work to get to, and that is using the same approach that has been used for other national diseases in the past. It is interesting to try to understand what it is the opposition wants here. Do they want us to open up and just to be able to let this virus rip? They are constantly, constantly undermining biosecurity in this state.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: They are undermining biosecurity in this state. They are not willing to represent—

The Hon. N.J. Centofanti interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —the 230 growers who are affected in this state. What they clearly want to do is open up and let this virus be throughout the industry, despite the millions of dollars—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The honourable Leader of the Opposition! The Hon. Ms Girolamo!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: —that would be lost by South Australian growers every single year.

The Hon. N.J. Centofanti interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The honourable Leader of the Opposition, order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Those opposite talk about livelihoods, yet they are willing to ignore the millions of dollars in losses that would occur every year for this industry if PIRSA had not taken the actions that are part of a nationally agreed response to this virus.

I have acknowledged just within the last few minutes that the testing regime we would want to be swifter—that is clear and obvious. In my public statements I have said that it will depend on demand. Obviously, there is a high demand. PIRSA and SARDI are working very hard to meet that demand. We are continuing to utilise the labs in New South Wales and Victoria because of the high demand. I think it would be more useful if those opposite actually supported the industry, took notice of bodies such as the Horticulture Coalition, instead of undermining biosecurity in this state and hurting our industries.

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