Spring time in Ulverstone, NW Tasmania and the Bombus Terrestris (Bt) bumblebees buzz around the garden. For the time being it is still illegal to use Bt bees for pollination in a commercial greenhouse but PCA is working to change that.

SENATE ENQUIRY

In February 2016, the Senate asked for public submissions on the; “Risks and opportunities associated with the use of the bumblebee population in Tasmania for commercial pollination purposes.”

Submissions were made, from both sides of the argument including PCA.

Following this, the government called for an election, and went into “caretaker” mode …. or lock down.

Everything went into a holding pattern, including this senate inquiry, and we were notified of this in May 2016.

Just recently, the government has announced it will re-open this enquiry, and the date this will happen is 15th February 2017.

There is no further opportunity to make submissions; they are simply picking things up from where they were left off.

All the submissions and other information on the enquiry can be found here;

www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_ Business/Committees/ Senate/Environment_and_ Communications/Bumblebees

PCA will keep you posted with any developments.