NATIONAL Farmers Federation President Brent Finlay has welcomed an independent assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with relocating the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).
Mr Finlay said the NFF would look at any independent assessment of the APVMA moving from Canberra to Armidale and needed to have an open mind, if any new evidence was presented.
But Mr Finlay said the NFF’s current position remained unchanged and they opposed the agency’s move from Canberra.
He said the APVMA had not functioned effectively in the past but currently the NFF was now “reasonably happy” with its performance.
“The APVMA is starting to work and work well,” he said.
“Our concern is the massive disruption the relocation would cause to the agency for a couple of years and we don’t see that as necessary.”
Mr Finlay said the NFF’s talks with Federal Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Barnaby Joyce would continue to help explain to members, why the government wants to relocate the APVMA.
Turnbull spares APVMA
This week Fairfax Agricultural Media revealed that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had kept the APVMA move alive, contradicting recent industry speculation suggesting he’d intervened late last year to overrule Mr Joyce’s ambition to shift the chemical watchdog out into north-central NSW.
While not supporting the APVMA’s 800km move north for now, Mr Turnbull has instead indicated he could be swayed by any evidence presented via independent scrutiny.
It’s understood the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has now been asked to initiate a cost/benefit analysis of the Authority’s potential move, to inform any ultimate decision.
That independent report – to be potentially conducted by Ernst & Young or another professional business analyst - would include a risk management strategy detailing how the relocation would transpire, without interrupting existing chemical assessment processes and day to day operations.
It would also consider how the decentralisation move could improve the agency’s commercial response capacity, while adhering to prescribed regulatory outcomes.
The review process would also involve communicating a proposed business case, costs and any potential implications, with key APVMA stakeholders like the National Farmers Federation and other stakeholder groups.
Relocation a hot issue
Minister Joyce has suffered criticism from Labor for pushing the AVPMA relocation plans and seeking to move the Grains Research and Development Corporation, Fisheries RDC (FRDC) and Rural Industries RDC (RIRDC) into other regional areas.
Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has accused Mr Joyce of disrupting the APVMA’s work “for his own political gain by pursuing his thought bubble of moving the agency out of Canberra to his own electorate”.
Late last year, Mr Fitzgibbon cited comments from APVMA CEO Kareena Arthy - made during Senate Estimates hearings - that only seven of the APVMA’s 85 regulatory scientists had said they’d be willing to relocate to Toowoomba or Armidale.
This week, an APVMA spokesperson said they provided a response to Minister Joyce on the proposed re-location in July last year and were now waiting for a response.
While needing more convincing on the APVMA move, it’s understood Mr Turnbull has backed the RIRDC shifting to Wagga and the FRDC going to Adelaide.
The GRDC’s hub and spoke model involving retaining a central Canberra agency but having regional offices at Northam in WA, Roseworthy in SA, Dubbo in NSW and Toowoomba in Queensland has also been given the green-light.
Regional presence 'imminent'
This week a spokesperson for Mr Joyce said a decision on the establishment of a greater regional presence for the three RDCs was now “imminent”.
But the spokesperson said a decision had now yet been made and work was continuing in respect of the APVMA’s potential relocation “although the Minister is pleased with the offers of support that have been received from several communities”.
It’s understood the University of New England in Armidale has offered to support a new base for the APVMA which would eliminate the need to spend a proposed $20 million on building new offices in Canberra, to replace the current, outdated location.
The NSW Government has already contributed $10,000 towards a campaign to make Armidale the APVMA’s new home which is backed by Sate MPs including Northern Tablelands National Adam Marshall, and Regional Development Minister John Barilaro, to boost local job opportunities.
