AGRICULTURE: High stakes in federal quarantine inquiry
One of Australian farmers’ few remaining advantages over cheap foreign imports is their reputation as producers of clean and green food and fibre, writes Peter Westmore. Following a six-month study, the independent Quarantine and Biosecurity Inquiry, headed by a former head of the Prime Minister’s Department, Roger Beale, is shortly due to report to the Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke. The inquiry is the first full-scale review of Australia’s quarantine system since 1996, and follows an inquiry into the 2007 horse flu outbreak, which paralysed the racing industry in much of Australia for months, and is estimated to have cost…