THE Queensland government agency that responds to pest and disease outbreaks is still burdened by “conflicting and outdated” laws, despite warnings about the problem three years ago.
Auditor-General Glenn Poole raised concern over slow progress on some of his key 2008 recommendations in a follow-up report released today.
He also noted that most amalgamated councils had not yet updated their pest management plans.
Biosecurity Queensland deals with outbreaks such as Hendra virus, equine influenza and Lyssavirus.
In 2008, an audit report found Biosecurity Queensland was responsible for 14 different pieces of legislation as well as being affected by other legislation, some of it dating back 36 years or more.
That report found parts of the laws for which Biosecurity Queensland was responsible were not always consistent, nor did they reflect operational best practice current at the time.
The 2008 report told the government to act “without delay” to bring in unified and up-to-date biosecurity laws so that that ability to respond to risks and emergencies was improved.
In today’s report, Mr Poole warned that Biosecurity Queensland’s capacity to respond to a biosecurity threat or incident was “still encumbered by an array of conflicting and outdated legislation”.
Mr Poole said Cabinet had issued an authority to prepare the new bill by late 2008 but it had still not progressed into law and was undergoing its third exposure draft and consultation period.
“This has twice exceeded the timeframes normally expected for drafting complex legislation as set down by the Queensland Cabinet and Legislative Handbooks,” he said.
Mr Poole said work had been completed on four of his eight original recommendations, including a new biosecurity strategy approved in late 2008, and progress had been made on others.
But he said Biosecurity Queensland still needed to finish a workforce plan to tackle weaknesses in its ability to deal with multiple emergencies at once.
Mr Poole also found the amalgamation of 153 Queensland councils into 73 in 2008 had affected local pest management planning.
At the time of the 2008 audit, 90 per cent of the 153 councils had a pest management plan in place, but the latest audit found just four of the 74 amalgamated councils had approved a revised pest management plan covering the new boundaries.
In its response to the findings, the state government said more local pest plans had since been submitted and a further 40 were likely to be submitted in the next six months.
The Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation defended the time it had taken on the new biosecurity law.
Director-general Ian Fletcher said consultation with stakeholders had been treated as a priority since 2009 but it was important not to rush the new bill.
“Feedback has consistently indicated that the timeframe to complete this work should allow for adequate time for detailed scrutiny by all affected stakeholders,” he wrote.
“As the bill will bring about significant changes affecting a diversity of stakeholders, stakeholder comments have indicated a preference for building up an understanding and acceptance of the new approach over rapid implementation.”
Mr Fletcher said Queensland’s approach unifying biosecurity legislation was in advance of other Australian states and complex issues needed to be considered.
