Page 1597 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 8 May 2018
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Sixty-five per cent of European introduced horticultural and agricultural crops grown in Australia are dependent on bee pollination. As Minister Gentleman mentioned, the almond and apple industries, for example, are entirely dependent on bees for pollination. Take a trip to the orchards in the ACT region, including those in the Pialligo area of our electorate in Kurrajong and you know pollination bees have been hard at work. We also have major nurseries in Yarralumla and community gardens across the inner north and inner south, all of which depend on bees for much of their pollination of flowering plants and trees. Many Canberra backyard gardeners will also be dependent on bee pollination for their apples and pears, which are dependent on bees for between 50 and 100 per cent of their pollination, their apricots at 70 per cent, peaches at 60 per cent and plums and prunes at 70 per cent, as well as many other fruits grown across Canberra.
Many ground vegetables are also totally dependent on bee pollination, including broccoli, brussels sprouts—which I happen to love—carrots and onions. Even sectors such as canola production which do not rely on managed pollination have improved yields when bees are introduced as pollinators.
The impact of declining bee numbers is not just felt in our backyards and in our agricultural industry; it is not even about the economic impacts on agriculture or the farmer’s gate or the food tourism market across the Canberra region. It is not just about the Canberra region at all. Almost a third of global farm output depends on animal pollination, largely by honey bees. Globally, these foods provide 35 per cent of our calories, most of our minerals, vitamins and antioxidants and the foundations of diets across the globe. The issue goes to the very survival of global agriculture and the crops that provide the world’s fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts and oils. It goes to the heart of global food security.
Community awareness of the importance of bees to our broader environment and economy is increasing, as is the awareness of the threats facing bee populations here and abroad. The 2017 House of Representatives committee report I mentioned earlier highlighted the growing threat to the honey bee industry from invasive threats such as the Varroa mite that Minister Gentleman mentioned. Varroa mites are small parasites that feed on the haemoglyph, the equivalent of blood, in larval and adult bees. A Varroa mite infestation can decimate a honey bee colony, with increased parasitic infestation leading to collapse of the hive.
Australia is the only continent free of the most serious species of Varroa, the aptly named Varroa destructor. Varroa destructor is a major challenge facing beekeeping internationally. Australian biosecurity arrangements include the national bee pest surveillance program, which provides an early warning system designed to detect incursions of bee pests and pest bees. The importance of this program also highlights the importance of our committed biosecurity staff and the need to ensure that they are properly resourced and supported to undertake their critical work. It also highlights the responsibility of every single one of us when we travel overseas to take our own responsibilities in relation to biosecurity seriously. If we are asked to tick a box about where we have been or what we have done, we must tick that box with accuracy and not try to skate through our biosecurity measures. They are there for good reason.
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