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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 497 asked in the Legislative Council on 26 June 2018 by Hon Diane Evers

Parliament: 40 Session: 1


BIOSECURITY — LEPTOSPERMUM SCOPARIUM
      497. Hon DIANE EVERS to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
I refer to existing and proposed plantations of Leptospermum scoparium in the south west of Western Australia for the purposes of producing manuka honey. Dense monocultures of other Leptospermum species such as Leptospermum laevigatum seriously threaten many coastal areas of southern Western Australia. Leptospermum laevigatum is a declared plant in South Australia under the Natural Resources Management Act 2004.
      (1) What is the government's assessment of the risk that Leptospermum scoparium will infest areas of the south west of Western Australia?
      (2) What is the government's assessment of the impact Leptospermum scoparium infestations may have, if they occur in the south west?
      (3) What environmental management mechanisms does the government implement or require to ensure that Leptospermum scoparium does not infest land beyond the boundaries of nurseries, farms or plantations?
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
      (1) Leptospermum scoparium is native to south eastern Australia and has been widely cultivated and grown in Australia since the early 1920s. There are no records indicating that Leptospermum scoparium has naturalised anywhere in Western Australia and there are no records to indicate that it has become an environmental weed anywhere in Australia. Leptospermum scoparium has been on the Western Australia permitted list since 1997—the year of the list's inception—and is currently listed as a permitted species for the whole state under section 11 of the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007. This species is considered to be of little concern to the state by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
      (2) There is no evidence to suggest that there would be any impact from the establishment of Leptospermum scoparium in WA. It is a different species to its relation Leptospermum laevigatum, which was mentioned in the introduction to this question.
      (3) None. Leptospermum scoparium is not a declared pest. This is the same as for any species planted on a widespread scale in this state, including many thousands of native and non-native trees, shrubs and herbs used for a vast range of purposes and products.