Debates Day 2 - Wednesday 23 November 1994
Parliamentary Record 6
Debates for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997
1994-11-23
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/281606
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/414128
DEBATES - Wednesday 23 November 1994 out. It is one thing to find diseased plant material and it is another thing to dispose o f it effectively to ensure that there is no possibility o f reinfestation. I was pleased to see that, under proposed new section 11A in clause 7, a person faces a very heavy fine for advertising fruit or plants as having been grown in an accredited area, which is an area specified as being clear o f specified diseases or pests, when in fact that is not the case. That brings to mind a certain egg producer here who, at one time, advertised free range eggs. If you know anything about the industry, Mr Speaker, you would know that some people produce free range eggs which attract a premium price. Others produce eggs from battery hens and those eggs do not attract premium prices. At the time, I made inquiries because I knew quite well that the people concerned did not have free range hens to produce free range eggs. I believe they had registered the trade name. I was told that they were not breaking the law although, in effect, they were advertising their eggs under a trade name that intimated the eggs were free range when in fact they were not. Therefore, they were advertising in a reprehensible way. Under the legislation before us, people will be unable to do that. I believe this is the first piece o f legislation designed to tighten quarantining o f plants to protect against diseases coming into the Northern Territory. This process has to be carried out continuously and in an effective way to prevent animal diseases coming into the Territory as well. The vast majority o f people obey the law. However, it needs only one person to bring in a diseased plant or animal, and that disease will spread throughout the Northern Territory. In relation to the illegal immigrants who landed at Nightcliff Beach, I hesitate to think o f the situation that might have arisen if those particular ethnic people were in the habit o f keeping dogs as pets. I do not believe actually that they keep dogs as pets. They have other uses for dogs. However, if they had kept dogs and had landed at Nightcliff accompanied by a rabid dog, I hesitate even to consider the situation that would have followed. It is my understanding that, if a situation o f that kind did arise, and it could happen, unfortunately it would call for the mass destruction o f all canines for many miles around. That would affect me personally as it would many other people. This is one o f the reasons why I have a personal interest in ensuring, in my own little way, that quarantine laws in relation to the introduction o f plant and animal material are adhered to strictly in the Northern Territory. I support the legislation. M r PA L M E R (Prim ary Industry and Fisheries): M r Speaker, I thank the opposition and the independent member for their support o f this bill. As the member for Nelson said, the display in the main hall stands as mute testimony to why we need strict quarantine arrangements in relation to the horticultural industry in the Northern Territory. I thank honourable members for their support. Motion agreed to; bill read a second time. M r PA L M E R (P rim ary Industry and Fisheries)(by leave): Mr Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time. Motion agreed to; bill read a third time. 1848