Water minister ignorant over pesticide impact …

The Tasmanian Greens spokesperson on Water, Tim Morris MP, was not surprised that the Minister for Water, the Hon Bryan Green appeared to have no idea that a risk management tool specifically designed to assess the risk of pesticide applications including the likelihood of pesticides migrating into waterways, the half life values of pesticides in Tasmanian soils and climatic conditions actually existed.

In question time today Mr Morris asked the Minister what percentage of people using pesticides commercially have received training in the use of PIRI-Tas; and how many of these are currently using the PIRI-Tas tool as an integral part of their planning for the application of sprays; and with PIRI-Tas having been available for at least 4 years why are there still so many ongoing contamination events.

“Given that the Pesticide Impact Rating Index (PIRI) risk management tool was developed in 2009, as a joint initiative involving the Department of Primary Industries, The Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research, Forestry Tasmania and the CIRS0, at a cost $1,000,000; with the Tasmanian Government committed to rolling out PIRI over a ten year period, I would have expected the Minister to be fully aware of its existence. This tool is a live database, and was designed with the clear understanding that the data would be added to over time by actual users of pesticides – yet the Minister seems ignorant of this fact as well,” Mr Morris said.

“We have consistently heard from consecutive Labor Water and Environment Ministers that pesticide contamination in Tasmania is a major problem, and that resources have been committed to solving this problem – yet when it comes to the actual roll-out and distribution of a risk management tool that contains Tasmanian site specific data to aid best practice in decision making, the Minister appears to be ignorant, or is conveniently ignoring its existence – perhaps in part because it recommends that waterway sediments must also be testing as part of water quality monitoring.”

“It is simply not good enough for Labor to rely on continued monitoring of pesticide contamination events in Tasmania as a way of placating public concern and controlling media perception, when actual contamination events in waterways continue to occur, and the testing/monitoring regime falls way short of what was recommended in PIRI.”

“Given that the PIRI tool was funded to the tune of $1,000,000 from Community Forest Agreement Fund, with several express aims including elevating community and seafood industry concerns around pesticide use and water quality, it is only common sense to actually ensure the PIRI system is used.”

“Again and again I see really good opportunities lost, and public money squandered by Labor because of their addiction to spin rather substance when it comes to water quality matters. The PIRI system has the ability to change behaviour and land management practices of pesticide users in Tasmania, and to add to the global body of knowledge regarding pesticide use and migration into the environment depending on local climatic conditions. If it has been paid for – why is it not being aggressively implemented Mr Morris concluded.”