5 May 2017

Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Primary Industries and Water

$2 million boost for primary industry protection

With the Budget back in balance the Hodgman Liberal Government will invest an extra $2 million in Biosecurity in the upcoming State Budget to tackle weeds and pests head-on.

Agriculture is a key pillar of the Tasmanian economy and under our Agri-Food Plan – Grow, Make, Protect we aim to grow the value of this sector tenfold to $10 billion by 2050.

To protect and expand Tasmania’s agricultural industries we need to reduce the risks and impacts of weeds, pests and diseases as well as streamlining the regulatory requirements.

The additional $2 million over four years in this year’s State Budget will:

• Increase resources to work directly with farmers, natural resource management groups, landcare and other stakeholders to support pest and weed management on farms.
• Work with Local Government and other statutory land managers to improve the regulation and management of agriculturally significant pests and weeds.
• Develop partnerships with plant and animal industries to review their needs to continue to grow and identify modern approaches to manage the biosecurity risk without over-regulating.

The key to effective biosecurity is partnerships between Biosecurity Tasmania, farmers, industry and the wider community.

This will ensure that we are able to address the threat of weeds, pests and disease outside our borders, at our borders and within our borders more effectively.

Today’s announcement follows on from the Tasmanian Government’s previous $6.9 million boost to frontline biosecurity and critical infrastructure which doubled our detector dog teams to twelve, is delivering new infrastructure like the Powranna Truck Wash, as well as upgraded signage and infrastructure at border entry points and upgraded biosecurity laboratories.

More Media Releases from Jeremy Rockliff

More Media Releases from the Minister for Primary Industries and Water