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The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has made the decision to not grant Rural Export and Trading (WA) Pty Ltd an exemption to export livestock after 1 June.
The livestock vessel Al Kuwait was unable to depart prior to June 1 as planned, following confirmed cases of COVID-19 among crew members.
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is extending the due date for submissions on the WoolPoll Review to give stakeholders the best opportunity to share their thoughts on how the poll is run.
The deadline for submissions on the WoolPoll Review is now 12 June 2020.
WoolPoll is the three-yearly vote of all wool levy payers, conducted by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), through which the industry decides on its levy rate for investment by AWI in research and development and marketing.
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (the Department) today released its final risk analysis report for the release of the rust fungus Puccinia spegazzinii for the biological control of the weed Mikania micrantha.
Head of Biosecurity at the Department, Ms Lyn O’Connell, said Mikania micrantha more commonly known as the mile-a-minute weed, is a serious pest of agricultural crops and commercial forests in other countries.
As of 3pm AEST 26 May 2020, six crew members of the live export vessel Al Kuwait have tested positive to COVID while the vessel was berthed at Fremantle, WA.
In accordance with requirements, no crew members were permitted to disembark and all Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment staff attended the vessel in full personal protective equipment (PPE).
The vessel reported three unwell crew members but none with elevated temperatures or COVID-like symptoms prior to arrival.
Following broad industry consultation and further consideration of the impacts on industry, the Australian Government has made the decision not to proceed with the Onshore Biosecurity Levy.
The department undertook a co-design process with industry to develop a levy model that was practical for industry and the government.
This process highlighted that a levy could not be implemented without significant regulatory impacts on industry and proposed levy payers.
Head of Environmental Compliance, Monica Collins has been appointed chair of the Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT).
AELERT brings together environmental regulators from across Australia and New Zealand and includes membership countries from Guyana to Canada.
The appointment underscores the department’s focus on effective regulatory practices and strengthening Australia’s robust environmental compliance framework.
A 35-year-old Malaysian woman has pleaded guilty to four counts of attempting to export regulated native specimens today at the Perth Magistrates Court.
The woman was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 months, with a non-parole period of four months, for attempting to export reptiles to Hong Kong.
Today’s outcome is part of a broader investigation by the department’s environmental compliance officers that has resulted in 129 native reptiles being stopped at the border.
In November 2016, the former Department of the Environment and Energy received an allegation that herbicide had been applied to grasslands on a property at Corrowong, in southern New South Wales, in contravention of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The department’s investigation found that a critically endangered ecological community, the Natural Temperate Grassland of the South Eastern Highlands, was significantly impacted by the application of herbicide.
Woolgrowers and other key wool industry stakeholders will have the opportunity to contribute their ideas to improve the WoolPoll voting mechanism.
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment today launched the WoolPoll Review and invited woolgrowers to have their say in response to a discussion paper.
WoolPoll is the three-yearly vote of all wool levy payers, conducted by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), through which the industry decides on its levy rate for investment by AWI in research and development and marketing.
In recognition of World Veterinary Day on 25 April, the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is celebrating the vital contribution that veterinarians make to Australian agriculture.