Biosecurity

Leader of the Nationals and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud is urging farmers and families in Maranoa to help stop Labor’s fresh food tax, by registering interest to have their say online. Consultation has now opened into Labor’s Sustainable Funding to Strengthen Biosecurity – Have Your Say - Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Barunga West Council has stepped up its fight to get better value for money from the levy collected by the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board ... Council is calling for the state government to review its approach to managing landscapes and natural resources, including community engagement, transparency and equitable allocation of the levy and its resources.

The largest and most ambitious trade initiative in Australian horticulture has been given the green light with a host of partners signing on to an historic $130 million program, the Fresh and Secure Trade Alliance (FASTA) ... As part of the program, FASTA will also boost biosecurity initiatives to solidify Australia’s strong reputation in pest-management and as a responsible trading partner for years to come.

Scientists are tracking Australian native stingless bees to determine what they like to eat, and how diet impacts overall hive health and their ability to pollinate crops effectively ... “The incursion of Varroa Mite has placed us in a position where we have had to reassess how we think about pollination”: Hort Innovation chief executive officer Brett Fifield.

What do bum-breathing turtles, conservation dogs and giant rat’s tail grasses have in common? It’s all on the schedule as Sunshine Coast Council hosts the Invasive Plants and Animals Workshop event at Obi Obi Hall on September 2 to arm residents with the knowledge to fight invasives on their property.

Media reports of  a new government plan to combat the spread of Red Imported Fire Ants only serve to further highlight the government’s continuing failure to fulfil one of its most basic responsibilities ... CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan has said ... a much smaller treatment area around the Scenic Rim and Gold Coast will be targeted, effectively allowing one of the most dangerous and destructive invasive species in the world to continue spreading north and west unhindered.

Shuttle stallions are highly valuable, male thoroughbred and standardbred horses who are ‘shuttled’ between the Northern and Southern hemisphere to mate and produce valuable offspring for the racing industry. Renowned for their race-track performance and historic pedigrees, these stallions will mate with some of Australia’s top broodmares.

Two citizen science initiatives have been named as finalists in the South Australian Citizen Science Awards 2023 ... Insect Investigators and Find our Fungi are both collaborative projects on which the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board is a key partner.

Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty met with the New Zealand Minister for Agriculture Damien O’Connor last week to discuss issues of mutual significance during her trip to Wellington NZ for the Food Ministers Meeting. Ms Moriarty said biosecurity was top of the agenda given that both NSW and New Zealand are exposed to the increasing threat of outbreaks from exotic incursions that are rising in volume, complexity, and severity.

Public consultation on a draft Biosecurity Bill that will enable a modern approach to biosecurity management in South Australia is now open. The new Bill will consolidate several existing Acts covering plant health, livestock, the dog fence, management of stray stock and relevant provisions of fisheries legislation, bringing consistency to biosecurity management across industries.