Biosecurity Amendment (Improving Operational Efficiency) Bill 2026
Mr HOGAN (Page—Deputy Manager of Opposition Business) (16:09): Given the Biosecurity Amendment (Improving Operational Efficiency) Bill 2026 deals with biosecurity, I want to talk about a biosecurity issue we have in Australia. I met recently in my office with some commercial beekeepers from across the Northern Rivers and heard directly about the growing impact of varroa mite on their business and their ability to maintain the healthy colonies that are so important to them and their businesses.
What I heard was exceptionally concerning because the impact of varroa is now no longer confined to the beekeeping industry; it's becoming a threat to Australia's agricultural productivity and, indeed, our food security. Commercial beekeepers, as everyone would understand, provide essential pollination services for all of Australia's fruit, all of Australia's vegetables and for the nut and seed industries.
As colonies are being lost, hive numbers decline and operators come under increasing financial pressure, and it is putting at risk an essential part of Australia's infrastructure. Beekeepers have invested heavily in approved treatments, changed their management practices and adapted their businesses to manage varroa. Yet, despite the current advice that they're getting, many are still losing colonies.
They are questioning whether the current system is giving them the tools that they need to manage an established biosecurity threat under Australian conditions. The most concerning message from beekeepers I've spoken to is that commercial operators are making decisions about whether they can remain in the industry. Every loss of an operator means a loss of hives, expertise, breeding programs, equipment and, more importantly—and I can't stress this enough—commercial pollination capacity, meaning a threat to food availability.
This capacity simply cannot be immediately rebuilt if we lose it, if we wait until businesses have failed. We're trying to rebuild an agricultural capability when we can, right now, have it protected. Varroa has exposed weaknesses in our biosecurity system.
We need to understand what happened. We need to understand the weaknesses in our border protection—the surveillance, the detection and the responses—and what measures are being put in place to ensure those weaknesses are addressed. We need a biosecurity system that more than responds once a threat has been established.
We need a system that prevents, detects, responds early and is prepared for a threat that we have not yet seen. Australia spent years preparing for the possibility of varroa entering the country, yet now it's established and has been widespread in New South Wales and across eastern Australia. This should prompt a serious examination of how our biosecurity system has performed.
We need to understand how varroa entered Australia, whether our border surveillance and detection systems were sufficient and whether the response was capable of containing the threat before it became established. Biosecurity needs to work as a complete chain from prevention and early detection to rapid response and ongoing preparedness. If that chain fails, the cost does not disappear; it moves from the border to farmers, businesses and, ultimately, consumers.
We are managing varroa under conditions that are very different to other countries. Our warmer climate allows colonies to continue breeding for much of the year. Treatment resistance is emerging, and Australia has limited practical experience managing an established varroa population.
The industry believes the problem is moving faster than the regulatory response and the system needs to be capable of adapting to Australian conditions and to the evidence emerging from the field. The national approach to varroa treatment and own-use certification and the experience of commercial beekeepers also highlight a second weakness in the current system: Australia does not have a consistent national pathway that gives trained commercial beekeepers access to practical, affordable varroa treatments for their own hives.
Beekeepers are managing an established pest under Australian conditions, yet treatment options, approvals and regulatory pathways can be complex, costly and slow to adapt to emerging evidence. The industry is not asking for deregulation or unrestricted chemical use. The experience of varroa demonstrates the need for a national biosecurity framework, rather than a fragmented approach across jurisdictions and agencies.
That framework should bring together border protection, surveillance, research, diagnostics, emergency response and industry expertise. It should also ensure that, once a threat is established, commercial beekeepers have the regulatory tools needed to manage it effectively. This includes considering a lawful, accredited, regulated own-use pathway for specified organic varroa treatments supported by appropriate training safeguards and Australian field trials.
I'll end by saying that I can't stress the importance of this enough. What we're talking about here is the industry that provides pollination services to the whole of Australia's agricultural sector—fruit, vegetables and a whole lot of other food products. We need to do better than we currently are, or a lot of this could be called into question when these industries are asking for pollination services.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Dr Haines ): I thank the member for Page. While I absolutely critically understand the importance of varroa mite and biosecurity, I would remind you that a link to the bill that we are debating would really be appreciated in your commentary. Thank you.
I understand that the member for Pearce would like to present a copy of their speech for incorporation into Hansard in accordance with the resolution agreed to on 6 November 2025.