Interview with Loretta Ryan and Craig Zonca, ABC Brisbane Breakfast

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC BRISBANE BREAKFAST
FRIDAY, 31 MARCH 2023

SUBJECTS: Contaminated imported vehicles; Australia’s tough biosecurity response

LORETTA RYAN, HOST: If you have ordered a new car, is getting it becoming a real snail's pace for it to get here?

CRAIG ZONCA, HOST: Oh yeah.

LORETTA RYAN: Well it might have something to do with a snail actually!

CRAIG ZONCA: That's it. Months and months delays and it's not just about components for cars, but also some creepy crawlies could be having an impact here. Murray Watt is the Federal Minister for Agriculture. Minister, good morning to you.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Good morning, Craig. Good morning, Loretta.

CRAIG ZONCA: What do snails and other critters have to do with delays getting a car into Queensland?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah well you'd be surprised to know that, Craig, I guess, wouldn't you?

CRAIG ZONCA: Yeah!

MURRAY WATT: Obviously there are a large number of reasons that people have been waiting a long time to get their cars - supply chains internationally have been really disrupted from COVID and wars and things like that - but unfortunately, we're seeing a huge spike in the number of cars that are being imported to the country that have contaminated materials and biosecurity risks with them. Snails are one example, and we're discovering an increasing number of things like snails, Siam weed, there's another exotic pest called the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug. So there's all sorts of weird and not-so-wonderful things that are turning up on cars that are being brought into Australia. And the risk, of course, is that if we let them in without being thoroughly cleaned, that's a really big risk, particularly to our horticulture sector because some of these pests are very dangerous to things like horticulture. And as the Agriculture Minister, I certainly don't want to be letting things into the country that are going to present that kind of risk and impact on production and even grocery prices, in the end.

LORETTA RYAN: I wonder how that is even happening, because you've got a car coming from a factory or whatever and you're transporting it to send it here, how do they get critters on them?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah well actually the problem, Loretta, begins back in the manufacturing country. And one of the strange consequences of COVID is because of those supply chain disruptions, there's a large number of cars, once they're manufactured in the overseas country, they're ending up waiting in paddocks and outdoor sort of areas for sometimes months on end. And it's actually when they're in those paddocks that they're picking up these kind of pests. So it's actually happening even before they're loaded onto boats, before they come to Australia. And I guess that's what we've been trying to do as the agriculture department is to put a bit more responsibility on those car makers and importers to make sure that the cars are clean before they're even loaded onto boats. So they're actually bringing those pests with them from the manufacturing country, it's not so much that they're catching them while they're being transported here. And if we can get those car makers and importers to provide clean cars in the firsthand, then we'll be able to eliminate this delay once they actually arrive in Australia.

CRAIG ZONCA: If they arrive and they're inspected and found to have one of these critters on board somewhere, what happens? You said they have to be clean, what's the process, Minister?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah well the agriculture department approves cleaning facilities that can be used - so third-party commercial cleaners - that can be used at the Australian end to clean those vehicles. And we have been working with the industry to approve more of those cleaning facilities to try to clear the backlog. But as I say, the fundamental problem here is just the sheer explosion in the number of imported cars that are contaminated in the first place. So to give you a sense of the numbers - last year, and if we just focus on Queensland figures, the Port of Brisbane last year experienced a 4 per cent increase in the number of imported vehicles overall, but the number of contaminated vehicles coming into the Port of Brisbane increased by 62 per cent in 2022 compared to the year before. And we're actually seeing even worse figures in other southern ports like Port Kembla and Melbourne, the numbers are even higher. So I guess while we are seeing a relatively small increase in the number of vehicles overall coming in, there's been an absolute explosion in the number of contaminated vehicles. And that's, unfortunately, what's causing these backlogs.

CRAIG ZONCA: And do you know how many cars are waiting right now to be cleaned? Have you got updated figures as to how many are in a holding yard or anything like that?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah so for the Port of Brisbane, there's about 1800 vehicles that are on hold for cleaning. And I'll be upfront, there was a serious backlog created, particularly in December, when we had 52 per cent of the contaminated vehicles for the whole year landed just in December alone. So that has thrown things out a bit. But as I say, we are working with the industry to approve more third-party commercial cleaners. But as I say, even if we can get this problem fixed, it's not as if that's the only issue that's contributing to the delays. But of course, we want to do what we can to help people get their new cars as quickly as they can.

LORETTA RYAN: Well, that's very interesting. I've never heard anything like that before. So you've educated us today. Murray Watt, Federal Minister of Agriculture. Thanks for talking to us.

MURRAY WATT: Nice to talk, Loretta.