Growcom’s Chief Advocate, Rachel Mackenzie, said that the reviewers had recognised that Biosecurity Queensland severely lacked capacity and would need significantly increased resourcing to transform its capability in order to meet the needs of the future. “In short, Biosecurity Queensland plainly needs to be rebuilt – and that will take a significant investment by government.”

Overall, the reviewers made 32 specific recommendations with an initial investment of $3 million in:

• The development of a biosecurity strategy and action plan and associated governance arrangements;
• Establishment of a new Biosecurity response unit, and;
• A skills audit and organisational redesign.

“We are very pleased to see the emphasis on building expert and regional capacity as we have long been concerned about the gaps in technical expertise and the complete lack of succession planning,” Mackenzie said. “We are also pleased by the recognition of industry Best Management Practice (BMP) programs and production horticulture’s own BMP, Hort360, in particular, as mechanisms for delivering on-farm biosecurity and assisting growers in meeting their general biosecurity obligations.

“Industry programs have also been recognised as mechanisms for reducing red-tape and costly inefficiencies around interstate market access which we wholeheartedly support.”

Mackenzie said that Growcom was disappointed that the government’s initial response was relatively non-committal, particularly with regard to increased resourcing for staff.

“The bottom line is that the review clearly shows that years of neglect and disinvestment are really starting to create problems in our biosecurity capacity and this has impacted on our response to emergencies. We have only to look at the events over the past twelve months in the horticulture industry with the onslaught of Panama TR4 disease in bananas and Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus in melons to see that this is true. The Department has been stretched to breaking point in dealing with these emergencies.  It is time for government to step up to the plate and invest properly in this area. Industry is prepared to be part of the solution but government cannot shy away from the need to invest.”

As a peak production horticulture body, Growcom provided detailed input into the review.

“It is gratifying that the perspectives we put forward have been reflected in the recommendations,” Mackenzie said. “We are pleased with the overall recommendations made in the review, but now it is important that the recommendations are properly implemented.”

Growcom congratulated the reviewers on a comprehensive and thoughtful document, which strove to get to the heart of the issue without shying away from difficult issues.