The conclusion that introduced species continue to pose threats to Australian agriculture was discussed in a session exploring Australia’s ability to deal with agricultural pest and disease outbreaks at the OUTLOOK conference in Canberra today.

Exotic incursions continue to pose threats and can impose significant costs on Australian agriculture and to the wider community.

Mr Graeme Hamilton, of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry outlined a framework for assessing the greatest biosecurity risks to Australian agriculture.

He stated that “the challenges for strategic responses to biosecurity threats include: globalisation, the co-ordination of public and private sector organisations and the decline in domestic expertise, while opportunities exist in the areas of biotechnology, information technology and through international expertise networks.

Discussing issues of eradication versus containment, Dr Peter Merriman formerly of the Department of Primary Industries (Vic), said that ‘the extent of the infestation, the biological feasibility of eradication, and the predicted economic, social and environmental impacts all influence the optimal incursion management response.’

ABARE’s Lisa Elliston presented a model that ABARE developed in collaboration with Plant Health Australia to assess the economic impacts of an incursion. ‘We’re interested in looking at both the costs imposed on the agricultural industry affected and the flow-on effects to the rest of the regional economy,’ Ms Elliston said.

Program Manager for Plant Health Australia, Dr Simon McKirdy, stated that ‘a system of coordinated prevention, preparedness, response and recovery components was imperative to developing robust and nationally coordinated arrangements to ensure more effective responses to exotic plant pests’.

Speakers at the session, Product Integrity, were:

• Mr Graeme Hamilton, Chief Plant Protection Officer, Product Integrity / Animal and Plant Health, Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

• Dr Peter Merriman, Consultant

• Ms Lisa Elliston, Economist, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE)

• Dr Simon McKirdy, Program Manager, Plant Health Australia