The 38 industry members of Australia’s $39 billion plant industries represented by the Plant Industry Forum welcome news that the fundamentally flawed Biosecurity Protection Levy (BPL) has finally been scrapped.

Plant Industry Forum Committee Chair Nathan Hancock said the elimination of the Government’s BPL from the Senate paves the way for Australia’s next government to lead genuine consultation and create a sustainable biosecurity funding plan for the future.

“The BPL attracted sustained and escalating opposition since it was announced almost two years ago, given producers weren’t consulted openly and transparently from the start and the policy design was wrong,” he said.

Producers represented by the industry group members of the Plant Industry Forum are at the frontline of biosecurity management and response efforts. Mr Hancock said the plant industry has significant track record in biosecurity contributions, including in-kind support and investment worth around $33 million in cost sharing emergency responses in collaboration with all Australian governments over the past 10 years.

“These investments have been directed to address issues such as citrus canker, brown marmorated stink bug, chestnut blight, banana freckle, khapra beetle, giant pine scale, tomato potato psyllid, Torres Strait fruit fly and Varroa mite,” he said. “This figure is certain to increase as arrangements are finalised for cost sharing banana freckle and Varroa mite responses that are currently under way.”

The Plant Industry Forum remained staunchly opposed to the BPL from its first announcement, condemning suggestions by the government that producers are the sole beneficiaries of a strong biosecurity system. Mr. Hancock has represented the Plant Industry Forum via the Federal Government’s Sustainable Biosecurity Funding Advisory Panel (SBFAP). He said it was critical that a whole-of-system approach was taken when considering sustainable biosecurity funding systems in the future, while recognising that the true cost of any biosecurity crisis is ultimately borne by the individual grower themselves.

For a detailed report covering the Plant Industry Forum’s submission please click below: