Malcolm Turnbull – “So Marcus, what’s this I hear about Bumblebees?”
Marcus Brandsema – “Well Malcolm, it’s huge! Let me explain. …”
In October PCA Director Marcus Brandsema made the most of a small window of opportunity to make Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aware of the significance of the bumblebee issue for greenhouse growers, at an event in Devonport.
Marcus told Malcolm that Bt bees have been in Tasmania for 25 years with negligible impact so their commercial use should not be prohibited under the EPBC Act, which prohibits their use for greenhouse pollination using the benign populations already in Tasmania.
Scientific research supports the PCA project and now we need political support.
A risk assessment for a Tasmanian Bt bumblebee greenhouse trial currently sits on Minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt’s desk, waiting for approval.
However, legislation needs to be altered before the bee can be used in such a trial at Marcus’ property.
And now Malcolm Turnbull knows all about it.