Budget 2021: Biosecurity boost to safeguard agriculture

A nearly $400m biosecurity package will be included in next week’s federal budget.

A nearly $400m biosecurity package will be included in next week’s federal budget, with “border protection” measures to fund programs to enhance the ability of authorities to prevent diseases and pests from entering Australia.

The package will see funding used for trial technology to screen international passengers for potential biosecurity risks, while a new advertising program will be funded to increase public awareness of the risks of breaches.

Scott Morrison said the government had to step up its capacity to safeguard agri­culture from being struck down with overseas threats such as African swine fever, the khapra beetle and foot and mouth disease.

The Prime Minister linked the biosecurity program to border protection measures such as nat­ional security and quarantining international arrivals to avoid the local spread of COVID-19.

“Protecting our borders is as much about protecting our livestock, crops and environment from diseases that have the potential to devastate them and the livelihoods they support, as it does the health of Australians during COVID-19 or protecting Australia’s national security,” he said. “This investment is about building a protective ring around Australia to safeguard our industry as well as the rural and ­regional communities that depend on it. There will never be zero risk but we are committed to reducing the risk where possible.

“We need to make sure agriculture continues to play a leading role in our national economic recovery.”

Mr Morrison said the biosecurity program would help support $42bn in tourism, $53bn in agricultural exports and 1.6 million supply chain jobs.

Under the policy, an extra $96.8m over the forward estimates will be used to bolster the offshore treatment program for shipping containers, including new technology to identify the need to intervene on packages.

An extra $67.4m will be spent to improve Australia’s biosecurity “preparedness and response capabilities”, including the ability to stress-test the program at a ­national level.

There will also be $19.5m to trial the screening of passengers; $34.6m for better tools to understand how pests and diseases enter Australia; and $31.2m to lower the biosecurity risk from mail.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said there would be greater efforts to manage the biodiversity risk posed by passengers arriving internationally. “We are investing in technical solutions to keep biosecurity threats out of Australia, including through new screening technologies for people and goods at the border,” he said.

“We will fund … groundbreaking trials to screen for biosecurity risks offshore and continue the development of modern, inno­vative detection systems.

“We are investing in better management of hitchhiker pest risk before they reach Australia through expanding offshore manage­ment of risks and strength­ened border interventions of shipping containers, while ensuring the safe clearance of low-risk commodities.”

Also in the package will be $25.5m for technologies to improve the speed and accuracy of pest and disease tests; $28.7m will be allocated to expand the Maritime Arrivals and Reporting System to include aircraft and non-commercial ships.