Minister Watt must release APVMA report

Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littleproud is calling on Agriculture Minister Murray Watt to release details of an independent evaluation into the performance of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).
Mr Littleproud said the report, due to be handed to Minister Watt today after a previous extension, looks into the operations of the APVMA and its governance of the agricultural chemical regulator. APVMA is an independent and science-based agency that is critical for our agricultural industries.
It comes amid suspected plans for Labor to move the APVMA from Armidale to Canberra, despite Senate Estimates hearing that the Armidale-based authority was doing “fine”.
APVMA is hitting a 97 per cent completion rate of assessments, which is well above its 90 per cent target.
“The APVMA is exceeding expectations and doing well in Armidale, but Minister Watt claims that moving the APVMA from Canberra to Armidale was problematic,” Mr Littleproud said.
“It was a pity that the Labor Government didn’t support a Bill to put in a governance Board from 2019 to 2022, when the initial review found serious and systematic issues in the agency. Minister Watt needs to show conviction and courage in his decisions and immediately release details of the report.”
Mr Littleproud has also called on Minister Watt to release details of an independent report into Labor’s decision to ban live sheep exports, which was handed to Minister Watt earlier in the week.
“Minister Watt is hiding behind a wall of hidden reviews and reports. Unfortunately, industry is seeing a pattern, where there is a lack of transparency behind Labor’s decisions.
“As a result, industry is sadly losing confidence and faith in Labor in its hour of need.”