Claims today by the Greens that biosecurity teams will not be in place at Burnie, Devonport and King Island tomorrow are false.
In fact, biosecurity teams will be deployed across the busy Easter period, with Tasmania’s frontline biosecurity detector dog teams working at the Hobart, Launceston, and Devonport airports.
Biosecurity Inspectors will attend the Burnie and King Island airports as part of their normal duties for the days.
Biosecurity is of paramount importance to the Hodgman Liberal Government to protect the brand of this state so many Tasmanian industries rely on, which is why we invested an additional $6.9 million in biosecurity initiatives.
It is important to note the Tasmanian Government is the first to appoint a full-time biosecurity officer on King Island, who has been delivering biosecurity services for the past six months.
New biosecurity signage and hardware has also been installed at Hobart, Launceston, Devonport, Wynyard, King Island and Flinders Island airports and also at TT Line’s Melbourne departure point and at the TT Line Devonport terminal.
The additional funding means Tasmania’s frontline biosecurity detector dog capabilities have increased from six to 12, doubled from what was in place under the previous government.
The latest batch of three detector dog teams are now in their last stages of training at the Hobart and Launceston airports. These twelve teams will strategically target and respond to biosecurity risks across the State, including the capacity to target 100 per cent all flights into Launceston, and Hobart airports (as promised), as well as maintaining a presence at regional airports, ports and mail centres.
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