Federal government rejects recommendations, APVMA to stay in Armidale

The federal government does not want to repeat the “mistakes” of the regulator’s controversial move to Armidale in 2016.

The federal government will ignore a suite of recommendations designed to reboot its troubled agricultural and veterinary chemical regulator, including that its board be abolished and it be moved back to Canberra.

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt was in the APVMA’s home of Armidale on Wednesday to respond to the release of a “rapid evaluation” by former public servant Ken Matthews.

“The disruption and chaos caused by Barnaby Joyce when he forcibly relocated the APVMA to his local electorate put a massive strain on the staff at the regulator, and according to the independent review ‘has had serious impacts on the performance and culture of the APVMA’,” Mr Watt said. “We will not be making the same mistake.”

Mr Matthews’ inquiry was prompted by a damning report into the regulator by law firm Clayton Utz in July last year that uncovered serious misconduct among staff and an uncomfortable alignment with the chemical industry, among other serious findings between 2019 and 2022.

Mr Matthews made 33 recommendations that would overhaul the structure and governance arrangements of the APVMA and correct what he called the “disturbing findings” made by Clayton Utz, and first aired during Senate Estimates hearings in 2022 when it was alleged a staff member urinated on colleagues at a 2021 Christmas party.

“The ethical and human values of its corporate culture began to degrade. Staff complaints and dissatisfaction increased to high levels … (It was an) organisation which had lost its way,” Mr Matthews said.

The former Department of Agriculture secretary linked many of the regulator’s shortcomings to its move to Armidale in 2016 at the behest of then agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce.

His recommendations included the creation of a new regulatory entity called the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Regulator, be headquartered in Canberra sitting “discreetly” within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and that its board be abolished.

None of these recommendations have been supported by the federal government.

In its preliminary response, the federal government said it supported “many” of the recommendations and would propose alternative ways to address identified problems for those it did not support.

It has created an APVMA Reform Taskforce to cost and develop a detailed response to the Matthews’ report and release a full response to each recommendation in mid-2024.

CropLife Australia’s chief executive Matthew Cossey welcomed the federal government’s initial response and rejection of recommendations “that would significantly disrupt the APVMA”.

The National Farmers’ Federation has come out in support of the federal government’s rejection of the APVMA’s relocation back to Canberra.

“Reversing the decision would likely only cause further negative impacts for the organisation’s ongoing services, performance and business,” NFF chief executive Tony Mahar said, throwing his support behind reforms to improve the regulator’s performance.