The Invasive Species Council welcomes the appointment of the Hon. Julie Collins MP as the new Australian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and thanks outgoing Minister Murray Watt for his service.
‘We look forward to working closely with Minister Collins, as minister responsible for biosecurity, to tackle some of the difficult biosecurity issues on the table like fire ants and the looming deadly bird flu threat to our wildlife,’ Invasive Species Council CEO, Andrew Cox said.
‘Invasive species are one of the greatest threats to Australia’s wildlife and the main driver of extinctions in our native animals. Despite this, environmental biosecurity threats have often been underfunded or not prioritised by a department heavily focussed on industry priorities.
‘Fixing this will require reforms to elevate the funding and status of the environmental biosecurity office within DAFF and we are optimistic that Minister Collins will continue Minister Watt’s focus on this issue.
‘We thank Minister Murray Watt and his team for their constructive engagement on environmental biosecurity and invasive species issues.
‘The recent changes in DAFF leadership have given us improved confidence that environmental biosecurity issues are being given greater focus and we are eager to see this momentum continue.
‘We remain concerned that the current level of funding for fire ant eradication in Queensland is only about half of what is required and this is risking a fire ant invasion across the entire continent.
‘Australia is facing a potential wildlife massacre if the deadly H5 strain of bird flu turns up in spring, but we are not prepared. Increased funding for local planning and a national wildlife preparedness task force are urgently needed.
‘We will also continue to advocate for elevating the Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer to a status equivalent to that of the Chief Veterinarian and Chief Plant Protection Officer.
‘This needs to be backed by a substantial increase in funding for the Environmental Biosecurity Fund, which has only $825,000 per year. This is the only dedicated money for environmental biosecurity but the funding level has remained unchanged since 2018.
‘The current review of environmental biosecurity by the Inspector General of Biosecurity and the review of the National Priority List of Exotic Environmental Pests, Weeds and Diseases are exciting opportunities for improvements.
‘Minister Collins has demonstrated enthusiasm for addressing the feral deer plague in Tasmania and we believe she is well-positioned to extend these efforts to fund implementation of the national feral deer action plan.
‘The Invasive Species Council looks forward to working with Minister Collins to enhance Australia’s environmental biosecurity and tackle the invasive species crisis.’
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