Doorstop at Brisbane International Airport

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
MONDAY, 20 JANUARY 2025
BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

SUBJECTS: Federal Government’s biosecurity detector dog program

ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: It's great to be here at Brisbane Airport today to highlight the delivery of an election commitment that we made regarding an additional twenty biosecurity dogs in operation across the country. Shortly we'll meet Clyde and Yuzu, who are two of the latest dogs that have been deployed across the country. These additional resources have meant that we can broaden our biosecurity dog detection operations in Darwin, Cairns and Adelaide. These dogs are responsible for identifying tens of thousands biosecurity risks across the country. And what we know is that when it comes to biosecurity, vigilance is of the utmost importance, that we need to use every resource available to us to ensure that we have the best possible practices in place. That includes these dogs that do a wonderful job for us. It's really important that we continue to be vigilant as a country when it comes to biosecurity. The threats are enormous, but also our reputation as being virus-free is integral to us to achieving great outcomes for our produce and agriculture as an export nation that we are.

So, it’s great to see that these dogs are making a difference on the ground. They're identifying risks and the training that they go through and their handlers go through really add to our ability to make these detections across the country. I’m really pleased that we've seen the rollout of this announcement, that we've had those twenty additional dogs and that they're making a difference in cities across the country. I'll now hand to Colleen from the department, who'll just talk a little bit about the training that the dogs and the handlers do.

COLLEEN EISER [DAFF ASSISTANT DIRECTOR]: Thank you very much Anthony. So, Colleen Eiser, Assistant Director of Architectural Capability for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. So, Clyde and Yuzu, they're our 19 and 20th dog from the Budget measure, and they have completed their eight-week training course on the 6th of December, and they are now transitioning into the operational environment here in Brisbane. So, their training course was conducted up here in Brisbane, there were thirteen dogs to begin with and at graduation ten dogs completed the course successfully. And those dogs have now been put out around the country between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Their training course is quite intense. So, for eight weeks they learn how to sit at a target odour. They're imprinted on our nine target odour groups ranging from fresh fruit, meat and vegetables and plants. And then, when they move into the operational environment, they hone their skills by conducting training sessions every day with those new handlers, and after two months, they are deemed operationally ready. So, at the moment, they're inside and they’re working alongside our operational teams and in two months' time, they will be those operational dogs as well. Thank you.

CHISHOLM: Any questions?

JOURNALIST: Are there more and more people bringing in prohibited items and fruit?

CHISHOLM: Unfortunately, that is the case and that's why we need to be vigilant, and that's why we need to increase resources like we have with these detector dogs. We know that Australians value our biosecurity and realise how important it is, and that's why this government is invested in ensuring that we're at the cutting edge, we're employing more people, but also, we've got these detector dogs that are making a significant difference as well. Any other questions? Thanks everyone, I think we've got Clyde and Yuzu coming out to do a bit of a demonstration as well.