Mr NEVILLE (2:34 PM) —My question is addressed to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Would the minister update the House on the detected outbreak of sugarcane disease in my electorate of Hinkler? How is the government responding to this very serious threat to the Queensland sugar industry, if not the national industry?

Mr McGAURAN (Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) —I thank the honourable member for his question. With some 800 cane growers in his electorate, I well understand his concern since a disease outbreak was officially diagnosed on a property at Childers on 12 June. This is the first known case of smut disease in eastern Australia, although it has previously been found and contained in Western Australia in the Ord in 1998. This is an extremely serious disease which could significantly reduce the yield of Queensland’s billion dollar sugar industry, with around $100 million of this originating in and around the Bundaberg region in the honourable member’s electorate of Hinkler.

As of today, the disease has been confirmed on 12 properties. Each of these properties has been quarantined and the movement of plants and machinery off these properties has been prohibited. The Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, in conjunction with all sectors of the industry, have moved swiftly and with great competence. We are working closely with the Queensland government and the industry to determine the nature and extent of the outbreak. Indications are that, currently, smut disease in Queensland is a controlled incursion and there is no evidence yet that the disease is spreading widely. The Australian government, specifically officers of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, are providing leadership and technical expertise and have been fully involved from the moment the suspected diseased plants were first identified.

The government has moved to invoke the emergency plant pest response deed, which sees government and industry working together to implement a national response to an emergency plant pest such as this. The response team has some 30 field staff, including experts from both industry and government, on the ground working long hours and weekends. While this outbreak is of grave concern to growers, I have been enormously impressed by the sophistication and the maturity of the response. Nobody is panicking or losing their heads, even in the face of such a grave crisis. Instead, they are focused on containing the outbreak. The disease has been found only in a small geographical area and it spreads slowly. I can assure members of the House, especially the member for Hinkler, that the government will continue to work closely with Queensland and the sugarcane industry on this issue.