KALGOORLIE QUARANTINE AND DECONTAMINATION FACILITY
1008. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
I refer to a recent interview by the minister with the ABC
Goldfields–Esperance, Mid West and Wheatbelt Rural Report regarding the
Kalgoorlie inspection and decontamination facility, and her comment that
accommodation was being provided at the facility
to truck drivers without the knowledge of management at the Department of
Primary Industries and Regional Development.
(1) It is
understood that accommodation has been available at the facility for a number
of years, so why was it that DPIRD management had no knowledge of this
practice?
(2) When did
the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development first become
aware that accommodation for truck drivers was being provided at the facility?
(3) During 2018, 2019 and 2020, was the facility
attended by DPIRD personnel with management responsibility for the
facility, other than the officer responsible for its daily operation?
(4) If yes to (2), for each year, approximately how many
times did this occur?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(4)
By way of background, as I understand it, over the last year about 150
shipments of animals were moved through the quarantine facility. Obviously, not
all of those would have involved overnight stays, so it is important to understand that there would not have
been people staying at the facility every day. As we have said time and
again, the provision of accommodation at the Kalgoorlie inspection and
decontamination facility became known to current management after staff
attended the site following the death of the senior quarantine inspector for
livestock based at Kalgoorlie. Although details of the number of visits and the
buildings visited on the site cannot be determined in this time frame, it is
likely that senior staff had visited the Kalgoorlie inspection and
decontamination facility in the periods referenced in the question, but we do
not know whether there was evidence that accommodation was being provided on
those days—accommodation being
mattresses that were provided for passing truckies. The decision to end the
provision of accommodation facilities was based on identified risks,
including those related to the transmission of COVID-19, which may not have
been considered on other visits to the site.