The NSW Government has today revealed its latest weapon to keep the State safe from plant and animal biosecurity threats with the opening of its new $3 million State Co-ordination Centre at the Orange Agricultural Institute.
Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall opened the site today and said it would improve the response capability of the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) for biosecurity emergencies and natural disasters to protect our food and fibre industries.
"This new coordination centre will play an integral role in mitigating the risk of a serious biosecurity event impacting our agricultural sector and the State's economy," Mr Marshall said.
"Biosecurity underpins our strong reputation for clean, safe food, supports market access and our unique environments. It also protects our primary industries sector, worth almost $16 billion, and provides our primary producers with a competitive advantage.
"Our rural and regional communities rely on our primary industries, so by increasing our response capability, we aim to respond faster and more effectively to contain and neutralise biosecurity and food safety threats."
Mr Marshall said this investment strengthened NSW DPI's capability to mitigate the impact of emergency events with a focus on preparedness, response and recovery.
"As we have seen over the last decade, our primary producers face significant threats to their operations from drought, floods, bushfires and COVID-19. The benefit of a state-of-the-art facility like this one is it can be stood-up quickly to ensure we get help where it is needed most," Mr Marshall said.
"The new State Co-ordination Centre is part of a $100 million package we have invested into infrastructure across the State to support our world-class food and fibre."
