APVMA looming crisis: Fitzgibbon

Last week federal Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Barnaby Joyce revealed the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) would establish four new offices outside Canberra at Dubbo, Toowoomba, Adelaide and Perth - with intent to move to Northam.

The Rural Industries RDC will move its core operations to Wagga Wagga in NSW and the Fisheries RDC will establish a regional office in Adelaide.

Another proposal to relocate the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) to Armidale will now undergo an independent cost-benefit risk analysis, to stimulate further government considerations.

Mr Joyce claimed a government policy victory for shifting the agencies into regional areas more “pertinent” to the industries the RDCs represent.

But Mr Fitzgibbon slammed the announcement saying most Coalition members didn’t take much notice of Mr Joyce’s “rantings” on relocation proposals early on.

He said as final decisions edged closer - especially on the APVMA moving from Canberra which farm groups have not supported - they’ve become more alert and involved.

“There is no doubt that the economic ministers and probably the Prime Minister have become involved,” he said.

“They can see a crisis looming with the APVMA so rather than embarrass Barnaby Joyce in one fell swoop they’ve got this fiction of a cost benefit analysis which is simply investigating the obvious.

“With the RDCs I think it is the same and that’s why we are now going to have a hub and spoke approach so as not to embarrass Barnaby Joyce.

“They are going to allow him to do a hybrid model which will allow some people in the RDCs to stay in Canberra while sending others out to places like Adelaide.”

Mr Fitzgibbon said the changed relocation plans were an embarrassing development for the Agriculture Minister “no matter which way you cut it”.

Asked whether Labor would reverse the relocation decisions if they came to government he said “it’s very difficult to unscramble the egg”.

But Mr Fitzgibbon said the moving four or five staff members to Wagga or Adelaide was being sold as a decentralisation proposal but would hardly inject stimulus into regional economies or the city of Adelaide.

“There is no merit in these proposals,” he said.

“We want to stop them rather than think about turning them back but again where the big (staff) numbers are is in the APVMA.

“Chemical companies are based in our Capital cities.

“These multinationals want to travel to Canberra not to Armidale in Barnaby Joyce’s electorate - if the APVMA is to be in Armidale, not just down the road from Parliament House, this is a very big mistake.”

But Mr Joyce said the relocations were “tangible evidence” of a government election commitment being put into action.

“Being geographically closer to the industries they serve will strengthen their relationships and help the RDCs better understand their individual industry’s needs,” he said.

“Moving the APVMA would allow it to have a closer interaction with the people who actually use agricultural and veterinary chemicals, as well as build a centre of excellence in the research of agricultural issues.”

Assistant Agriculture Minister Anne Ruston said the industries wanted their levy-facilitating agencies “closer to where they are actually doing what they were doing”.

“Many of our research institutions are actually located outside of Canberra and so it was really important that we respond to the wants and the needs of industry about asking for their organisations to be posted to where they are,” she said.

South Australian Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell said it was a “natural fit” for the GRDC and FRDC to have a base in his home State where the grains industry generates $4.6 billion or 28pc of SA’s gross food revenue.

GrainGrowers and Grain Producers Australia welcomed the GRDC move saying the new hub and spoke model would deliver enhanced connectivity between the researcher and its regionally-based, levy-paying grain growers.

A statement said that as of June 30 last year GRDC employed 75 permanent, part-time and temporary staff-members and received $117.4 million in 2014-15 (about 60 per cent of total income) from levies derived from about 25,350 grain farm operations.