Biosecurity Compliance and Enforcement

Steve Peios:

Hello again everybody and welcome once again to Detect and Protect, the Australian biosecurity podcast. This podcast series is all about sharing information on biosecurity and the difference that this makes to our everyday lives. My name is Steve Peios, and I am your host today. On today's episode, we talk about the importance of working together across Australia to prevent and manage Australia's biosecurity risk and what happens when the rules are not followed by those naughty people. We call this biosecurity compliance. A strong biosecurity system relies on prevention, and I'm sure it's not a shock to anybody out there listening to hear that prevention rather than treatment is the most effective means. We're also going to talk about biosecurity compliance statement, what this is and why it's important to all Australians. It's so important for everyone to be part of a strong, collaborative approach towards biosecurity. And we will discuss how the department manages biosecurity compliance.

Now, everybody, I'm very, very excited today to say that I'm joined by Mr. Peter Timson, the first assistant secretary of the Compliance and Enforcement Division. And Peter is, of course, my first assistant secretary, which means that he'll be touching on a lot of the great work that I do within the department along with my section and the great work he's doing leading the Compliance and Enforcement Division. So it's something I'm very excited about, and I can't wait to talk to him today. So without any further ado, a big thank you for joining us today, Mr. Peter Timson. Thanks so much for being here.

Peter Timson:

Great to be here, and thank you.

Steve Peios:

It's very great to have you indeed, Peter, illustrious company of all the senior executives that have been part of this podcast with me. So I'm very, very happy to be talking to you today. First of all, Pete, could you please tell us a little bit about your role in the Compliance and Enforcement Division, and what you are doing on a day-to-day basis?

Peter Timson:

Sure. So our division is really about the compliance and monitoring across the whole biosecurity continuum, and that's both offshore and onshore, and that's for our staff that I have in my division working in both the audit assurance, the approved arrangements, setting the standards, and then monitoring and, obviously, in the enforcement and investigative, where we see offences occurring in both the import and export space. So it's all about protecting the community and industry and, most importantly, the farmers around the country to making sure that we keep Australia pest and disease free.

Steve Peios:

And that's a big part of what we do as a whole, isn't it? Pete's keeping those pests and disease out, looking to regulate offshore where possible and manage that. And that's something that I'll touch on with you in a moment's time when it comes to pests and diseases and keeping them out. Can you tell us a little bit about what set, monitor, and respond is, and why it is important to the everyday Australian, Pete, please?

Peter Timson:

Yeah, sure. And for me, explaining it as how I understand it and just for our listeners out there, it's all about making sure that what you buy in the shops and what you get is what you expect, and making sure that when it comes through, it's fresh and it's great to eat or use and making sure that it's pest- and disease-free. And to use the example of we set the rules and the standards, it's much like when someone gets their driver's licence, there's a whole set of rules. You have to do some tests and their standards that are set and things that you have to do when you're driving the vehicle. And we may put additional rules on that. For example, you might need to wear glasses, so that's a condition for driving your vehicle. And also, you know that you have to stop at a stop sign or a traffic light and maintain the speed limit.

And our auditors and our approved arrangements team and our investigators are very much like when you're driving a car, these things you have to do, and you don't want actually do something wrong. And sometimes, people self-correct and they go, "Oh, I'm speeding. I better slow down." And other times, they are speeding and we are... The highway patrol that you see there and you go, "Uh-oh, we're in trouble." Everyone slows down. Like everyone else, you see those cars on the side of the road. And first thing you do is either you tap the brakes or check your speed, and there's that... As I say, the 50 cent, 5 cent moment when you go, "Oh geez, I'm okay." Or someone's just whiz past you and go, "I hope you get caught."

Steve Peios:

Yeah, absolutely.

Peter Timson:

And sometimes they are, and that ties into a very much how we see regulatory position for the department. And a lot of it's about education as well. And no different to if you do get stopped, sometimes the good boys and girls in blue will provide education. And other times, there's no education. You just actually get a fine or worse. So same thing for us in the regulatory spaces. When we're working with industry and the public, a lot of it is our first intention, is the education side of the house, but obviously, sometimes, we can't do that.

Steve Peios:

And that also comes down as well to the level, for example, of that offence. When you're talking about that anecdote there about on the road and driving safety, it's about the level of the offence as well. And generally speaking, I think would you agree that people want to do the right things because I've heard about voluntary compliance. And when it comes to whatever space that be, be that driving your vehicle or in the space that we work with biosecurity. So how does that work in your perspective? And are there any risks in this space when you're completely putting... And I won't say all of it, but a lot of that responsibility on the individual, like when we talked about driving on the road.

Peter Timson:

Yeah, look, absolutely. And voluntary compliance is everything from members of the public coming back on a flight and declaring, filling out their arrivals card to industry participants wanting to do the right thing. And industry participants want to sell good products to Australia. They want the good reputation and being the... No one wants that bad reputation. So we've got big participants. Whether they're wholesalers providing fruit, vegetable or meat, or people importing products, they want a good brand reputation.

The last thing any of those companies would want would be a reputation that they've bought in a disease or pest or bargain into the country. And we've had to go through them, as you say, a dose of salts. And publicly, they're seen to be... They haven't followed the rules. We've trusted them, and they've broken the rules. So from that perspective, everybody actually wants to do that. And it's actually a benefit for industry to be seen to be one of the good corporate citizens.

For them, it's part of their brand. And some of the big players are very much about being clean and green and supporting the environment. Well, if they're supporting the environment, it's also about making sure the environment's safe. And having worked and visited recently the farmers in tropical North Queensland, I was up at Atherton Ranges and the Mareeba Shire recently as the regional representative up there. The farmers are very, very much attuned to what is the biosecurity risk. They would be mortified if an industry participant was not following the rules, so they followed the rules and they expect us and to monitor it. And they also expect the industry and the public to follow them as well.

Steve Peios:

To do it the same way, that's correct. Do you think in this day and age as well, the level of potential scrutiny is even more of a deterrent for people doing the wrong thing? I guess, I feel like when we come back into the country, be that if it's a personal experience or being that representing this department, doing the great work we do, is it a case that people are now a little bit more understanding of that, not only from the individual perspective but from the industry themselves as well? There's a lot more of a stronger connection, I think, between what would've previously been just the individual without a care to like this is genuinely affecting the farmer and the people that are working so hard to ensure that safe food supply for the country and whatever the case may be. Is that fair to say?

Peter Timson:

Look, absolutely. And look, the last couple of years have... You couldn't write a script for the last couple of years with COVID, but it's also changed how people have seen what the supply lines are and how critical they are and how important parts of the industry are to supporting what we need. We've got issues right now with flooding down in New South Wales and Victoria. There's important parts to that to make sure that what comes out and what is provided to the community is safe and fresh and making sure that it meets that criteria and how do we support them, the farmers and the members of the community, to make sure they get what they need. So it is very important. And the community are far more attuned to it now than they've ever been.

Steve Peios:

I think there's a big element there as well of the connectivity of people too when it comes to be that social media, their connection to the news, their connection to current affairs, which really helps that as well. Peter, with regards to the department's work and those partnerships and providers that we work to support that, what can you tell us about those partnership providers and how they assist the work that the department does?

Peter Timson:

So one of the things we do is we do a lot of work offshore. So it's very important how we work offshore with our both government and industry participants to make sure... How do we get things into the country that are cleared and safe? And there's a lot of things that can be done offshore. And that's also benefits industry as well. So how do they get the products into the consumer quicker and how do we actually make that occur?

So my division and my staff spend a lot of time working with those stakeholders offshore, whether we are looking at fumigation of containers offshore to get rid of the nasty things like the khapra beetle. For those who don't know what that is, it's a nasty little beetle that's the size of a grain of rice, so as small as it is. It's a force multiplier. How do we make sure that both product and containers are clear of that and what programmes can we put in place so that when they get here, they don't need to be reinspected? And then we, from our auditing perspective, make sure that they've done that prior to arrival, and then also ensuring that, from that order perspective, giving them that green light to go through. And it's also rewarding industry through compliance and good behaviour, which goes back to that education piece. And that's something that they want to achieve as well, because for them, it's faster movement of goods.

Steve Peios:

That's correct. Quicker movement of goods as well also means that they have that level of trust that builds up with the department. And for us, is it a case of not so much less regulation potentially, but it's trust in that regulation that we know that there's more of a chance that they're doing the right thing?

Peter Timson:

Yeah, it's a lot to do with the trust, but also, it's the regulation. So from an audit and an intelligence perspective, where you have both planned audits... And if you want to go back to the car analogies, that's what we say, "This weekend we've got a blitz on RBT. Expect to get pulled over."

Steve Peios:

That's a good example.

Peter Timson:

You shouldn't be drinking anyway, but we're going to be doing that. And then we have obviously targeted activity where we've got intelligence tip-offs that, "Well, something's not right," and that's where the public or industry participants say, "Look, I think they're cutting a corner." And we'll do unplanned audits or we'll do investigative activity because we think something's not right. And that can be quite a targeted operation. And that's where, again, back to the car analogy, where members of the public ring up and say, "Look, I think there's a whole heap of young persons going down to this area. They're going to do a whole heap of burnouts."

Steve Peios:

Go and have a look.

Peter Timson:

Do we go down and have a look? So not to try to keep going back to the car analogy, but it's a similar method in that space. And industry are very responsive to that because they're also aware that it takes one company for their produce to create a bad reputation. And consumers will suddenly pull back and not buy anyone's product of that type if there's a concern about the quality or the content. So that can affect everybody if one of the industry participants is not playing the game.

Steve Peios:

And that sounds like a very serious thing where that can spread as a whole in between participants, the word might get out, and then it can affect. I feel like today in many different aspects of someone's everyday life, that sort of reputational damage can really spread so quickly. Whereas there'll also be a case of... Unfortunately, there's a level of misinformation as well out there where it can be tarnished with the same brush. And then, one person does the wrong thing. And those that are doing the right thing end up in trouble as well.

Peter Timson:

And just going back to historically example, after World War I, German Shepherds had to be called our stations because of the war. No one liked them because the poor things we called German shepherds.

Steve Peios:

That's crazy.

Peter Timson:

I just announced they're just a dog. That whole reputational risk can just occur from something that occurs. And history has shown that the public can push back on those sorts of things.

Steve Peios:

It's a long way back from there. Do you think, Peter, for them, in that case, it can be a long way back to build that trust?

Peter Timson:

It can be, like industry or companies or produce. How do you get the trust back into the community to buy that product if something's happened? So a lot of the times, as I said, going back to the education piece, industry will work quite proactively with us to make sure that they're on the front foot as well.

Steve Peios:

Absolutely. I'd love to now move on to some of the juicy stuff if that's possible. Peter, I know you've got a very rich history with the AFP, now, here in the Department of Agriculture, doing wonderful things here in DAF as well. What can you tell us about what happens when there is non-compliance and what we can do as a department? I also know that you personally have some fantastic examples which we'd love to hear what you can tell us about. And I know that the general public is very excited to hear some of this sort of stuff. So without putting you on the spot too much, Pete, please, we'd love to hear about some of the juicy stuff and how that works with regards to the non-compliance and what we can actually go and do as a department.

Peter Timson:

Yeah, look, there's many examples. My kids love watching Border Security and other shows like that. That's the great work that ops division do at the front end. We do a lot of the investigative work, probably what you say behind that layer. Something historical examples in the last couple of years, we've had a group of persons in one state try to import pig semen in shampoo bottles. So to breed a certain type of pig, some would call a super pig that could breed extra piglets but is actually an offence under the Biosecurity Act. And they were convicted in relation to that and a serious offence.

We've had other examples in the export space where we've actively prosecuted a number of persons who were trying to export or did export timber. And they obviously got a significant fine in that space. We also do a range of other investigations. We do work with our counterparts. So the Australian Border Force and the Australian Federal Police help us with a lot of investigations, because sometimes, we actually see that people who are trying to circumvent our controls are not... They may be industry participants, but they're also trying to do actual criminal activity.

And for those of you watch Breaking Bad and like the idea of whether or not they can set up their own meth lab, we've targeted certain plant products which we know are ingredients in the meth labs. We pass on that information to state crime commands in relation to what's on their shopping list is obviously what we are watching. And obviously, from that perspective, we can see that they're importing items that are both a biosecurity risk but also we know that or suspect that they're probably using that for nefarious reasons. So for those who in the breaking bad space who think they're on the money, maybe we're on the money, too.

Steve Peios:

This is a warning. I like it. This is a warning for them.

Peter Timson:

There's many other things. A couple of months ago, we had someone wanted to bring in a companion. Everyone wants to bring in companion dogs, and they have to go through quarantine procedures. Someone came, contacted us a few months ago and wanted to bring in a companion gecko. So obviously that wasn't approved, but I'm sure it was an important companion animal. But the small companion gecko was not permitted to come into the country. So these strange things happen.

Steve Peios:

Incredible stories. That's great.

Peter Timson:

And look, we get a lot of attention around the dogs. Strange enough, not usually the cats, but the dogs are whether a companion animal, or otherwise, they're subject to our quarantine requirements. No different to anyone else. And some of those are high profile, and some of them are not. But biosecurity is an important issue and all animals coming into the country need to go through quarantine requirements.

No different to our good members of the defence force who have dogs serving in military conflicts. Those dogs have to go through quarantine requirements coming back into the country to make sure that it is a disease-free. No different to those bringing in pets have to follow the same rules. And sometimes, that obviously comes into the media spotlight for our division. So there's quite a few operations that we have, which are active at the moment in the import and export space. And rest assured, we do work with our partner agencies. And as I mentioned earlier, the Australian Border Force Federal Police, the ATO, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, ACIC, and others do assist us as required.

Steve Peios:

And is it fair to say, Peter, that the relationship between the agencies is very close? I think that's probably fair to say, but it's probably much closer on matters like this than the general public would be aware of. I think that example you give there of the things that are being imported, people probably wouldn't think that, "Oh, hang on, this is going to refer back to what would be considered a more..." How would you say, a traditional crime fighting agency perhaps? But meanwhile, we're in the thick of that. If we're looking at things that are coming into the country, which are then used as part of a meth lab set up, and all these funky things you hear on the news about the way people are setting up a drug lab or whatever the case may be, it's actually much more of a closer partnership than people might think.

Peter Timson:

And look, we are not a law enforcement agency. We're a regulatory agency. And we are here, from a biosecurity and human health perspective, to protect the country. But what we do see in that space, you are right, is that sometimes some of these actors in this space are actually doing a lot of other stuff and a lot of things that we come across is of benefit to the other agencies. I can't talk on what they're doing. I'm not aware of all their operations either, but certainly some of the things we see is of interest to them.

Steve Peios:

Absolutely. And that goes onto my next couple of questions which relate to trends and changes. I guess, from an overall perspective, I'll ask it first before I break it down a touch, but in your time with the department over the last couple of years, have you noticed any specific trends and behaviour within the community that has changed a lot? And I guess, anecdotally, over the past of 5 to 10 years coming into the department and hearing what they've been up to as well, what are those changes that you've seen from the Australian perspective and with regards to our clients and everyone that we are involved with?

Peter Timson:

Yeah, I think certainly moving out post-COVID, the country's a lot more aware of how important our country uses as far as protecting what is here and noting the need to make sure that what we have here is disease- and pests-free. Noting that our good agricultural industry produce enough food for over a hundred million people. So we have a massive export industry. It's important as a brand and a reputation that we actually protect that as well.

So part of our role is making sure that what we sell overseas is what you get. So the fact that we're selling high-quality produce overseas, the export side of the department makes sure that the brand and reputation and the value of that is maintained. Our role is to make sure it's pest- and disease-free so that it continues to stay at that point. So it's very important in that space for that in relation to the public, a lot more attuned to that and very protective of it.

And as I mentioned earlier, speaking to farmers in tropical North Queensland, they're very attuned to every single matter we've got. And even having a roundtable with a group of farmers, they could rattle off every job that I've had in the media back to me. So they wanted an update on all the current jobs that they're aware of. So they're right across what we are doing and very much appreciative of what we are doing at the border to keep their livelihoods secure.

And I think also the public being networked the way it is in the world we are is a lot more quick to respond when they identify things, so people are more happy to come forward and tell us if something's not right. And some of our biggest operations have come from or some of our current active operations have come from tip-offs from the community or industry participants when they've just come up to us and said, "You know what? That's just not right." And that's given us that start point to actually look at some matters. And as I said, some of our biggest jobs that we've currently got underway have come from tip-offs, which is great.

Steve Peios:

What do you think's the major difference there? And the question is, what do you think the major difference is in terms of how that visibility of the strength of our biosecurity system has become such a key part in everyone's lives? Because when you talk about the farmers being so in tune with it and the fact that Australia on a biosecurity level and an international agricultural export and import level really is, I feel like, and if I can take a step back from my, I guess, official role, when it comes to me as an Australian, it's something that I'm proud of. And I know that many Australians are our level of standing when it comes to the world as an agricultural powerhouse. What do you put it down to the fact that this is now being echoed throughout the community and everyone is really buying into it as almost like a teamwork thing? We're all coming together now to express this message.

Peter Timson:

Yeah. I think it's about where we've come from and the last couple of years recognising that we do have a great country and so proud to be part of this country, but it's like the old adage when you fly home. You just feel that million bucks.

Steve Peios:

That much better.

Peter Timson:

That's how you feel. But I think the public certainly recognise that, as we say biosecurity is everyone's business. It's not just the good officers at the border or the operations division, dogs at the borders. It's not just the Labrador job at the border. It's everyone's job to make sure things are safe and things are right. And this goes back to everyone working together as a team effort to protect the industry and protect the community to make sure that we have all this great produce that we do have there. It's just fantastic.

Steve Peios:

It is indeed, Peter. And we've seen over the last few years, as an example, when you mentioned the khapra beetle a moment ago, we've talked about BSMB as well, which is the brown marmorated stink bug for all of our listeners. These are things that are emerging. And I feel like, is it fair to say there's always a new emerging trend? You would've seen that in your AFP days. I think I'd be very safe to say that BSMB and khapra beetle aren't going to be the only thing that, all of a sudden, just becomes the big issue. We've got foot in mouth as well, which can issue FMD, Xylella, which is one of our big plant priority diseases as well. So as always, that necessity and need to keep up with the times and trends and stay on top of it because it can change in an instant, can't it?

Peter Timson:

Absolutely. And whether it's vector-borne diseases through wind, whether via migration with birds or it's bought in through cargo or persons and stuff like that, there are many elements and it's constantly changing, unfortunately. Like criminals, as soon as you find one way to stop it, they'll develop a new way to go around it. And that's why...

Steve Peios:

Criminals think bugs. They find a way.

Peter Timson:

Not saying that there's a little mafia stink bug group working in some element, and they're working a new way to get into the container. But the point being is there's always new ways that we need to look at doing things and more efficient ways and effective ways, because the other part is trade volumes are going up.

Steve Peios:

Absolutely.

Peter Timson:

We need to be efficient but also safe. So we need to make sure that produce and products can move quickly and safely, but also still protecting both the community and making sure the industry are happy. No one wants to bring in a produce or a product line and then suddenly find out that it's infested with something.

And there are many diseases unfortunately out there. And as you've mentioned quite a few and some of the bugs and coming from my background, the first briefing I went to was they talked about LSD, which, to me, I thought was a drug. And my boss turned around and said, "No, that's actually a disease, some skin disease." So I'm constantly learning about new ways of dealing with that.

There are many ways that we can work with here and offshore to be more effective. And a lot of that comes to as, well, as I said earlier, what can we do offshore? So a lot of our partner agencies and countries realise that if they do things a certain way offshore, that can speed up the movement of goods onshore. And we have a very active programme in our division in that space working offshore, and that's fantastic. And the other part to that also is the disruptions piece. So if we know things are coming in and they're coming through a certain class or method of entry, what can we do with our partner agencies offshore to disrupt it before it even gets here? It's like the old adage, if it's not even in the mail, we don't have to worry about checking the mail.

Steve Peios: Absolutely. And that's whole prevention piece, isn't it? They talk about it. Whether it's in medicine, whether it's in now biosecurity, whatever the case may be, it's always better than the cure or the treatment that comes with that.

Before I talk about... I want to move on and talk shortly about the main mission moving forward from a compliance perspective and what success looks like. But you touched on something I wanted to go into briefly where that relationship level of Australia with our international partners moving forward continues to grow from strength to strength. We have elevated relationships with a lot of our partners now as well. What do you think has been the key in educating them, I guess, on the importance of this...

What you said before was really important about trade, being able to move easily to get cleared. We've come out of the bottleneck of the pandemic. We've seen those supply issues, the inflation that's come with it. I feel like that's an important piece, and I'd love for you just to provide some quick comment on that, if you could, about getting our other partners because we're not the only country out there that has a big export market, for example, or import space in the agricultural industries. But a lot of our partners is, I feel like, they're coming around to our way of thinking and understanding that this is the best way forward.

Peter Timson:

Yeah, look, absolutely. And recently, we've had teams over in the Pacific, in Fiji and other countries in relation to working with our partners, and that's also about providing assistance for them as well. So if they can maintain a disease-free status or a bug status-free, they want to check containers just as much as we do. How do we set up programmes so that, A, we are talking the same language, B, we've got the same systems in place, then when we've got trade movement between the two countries? How are they comfortable with what we are sending them and vice versa? So we are doing a lot of work in that space.

And then obviously the chief vet and the chief plan officers are also doing work in that space in their neck of the woods. But from our regulatory perspective, we've got a very active international programme working with our trade partners. We've had teams recently come back from Europe and Vietnam and Thailand. In relation to working with them is an example of how can they put processes in place for bringing in different products, whether it's vehicles or containers, and how do we get that through quickly? So again, that works for the consumer, the whole adage how do we get the cars off the docks quicker?

Well, there's programmes in place and our part of that is both education training, and then obviously, from the other side of the house in the division is the monitoring and assessing to make sure that that works and giving them the feedback. And I know with some of the countries that we've been working with, they've self-identified some of the companies who haven't been compliant and have advised us, and so they're proactively working with us as well. And that's been fantastic in regard to that. The fact that they're working with us as well, they see the need and the importance of this. So it's not just a Team Australia approach. It's very much they're seeing the benefit for them as well. And that goes back to what I originally said about brand and reputation for them to be seen, to be proactive in that space works to their advantage as well. So it raises their expectations in their community with their government to be highly compliant as well. So it works in their favour as well.

Steve Peios:

I think that shows as well that it moves on from just a pure industry and industrial perspective, commercial perspective. It's all about government as well, holds that level of reputational impact, too. Main missions, I touched on it a moment ago. Please, Peter, your main mission for biosecurity compliance moving forward. And I guess, what does success look like? It's probably a little bit hard to pinpoint exactly, but your overall view on that, please. Just to put you on the spot.

Peter Timson:

Well no, no, I mean, in my views, obviously, what everyone else's view is keeping the country safe and disease- and pest-free. And as the farmers said to me a couple of weeks ago, you got to keep us safe. It's that personal, but that's how you feel. It's about, how do we make sure we're keeping the country safe? And I take that very personally is that's our job, is how do we keep everything disease- and pest-free?

Steve Peios:

So there's that level of emotion, too, Peter. It really is on that personal level and definitely, excuse me for being, from the listener out there in terms of that, naive, I guess, but it is so personal for them and that's the work that we're doing to make sure that their livelihood and the livelihood of our country is effective. Because that's, I think, a very important message for our listeners is that it is so emotive and it's such a personal thing.

Peter Timson:

Well, it is. And I've got family that are in the farming industry. I'm a city slicker, so I'm no good on a farm, and I call it how it is. But for them, it's their livelihood. It's their business and it's also supporting the community in the country. And if some of these things get in, it can cause significant damage and harm. And it's not just reputation harm. It's their livelihood. And it is about making sure that we stay disease- and pest-free. And that is hard work. And luckily, I've got a great division and I've got a lot of staff that work really hard all around the country doing that with the other divisions to try and keep Australia safe. And I'm not trying to be emotive or to be corporate, but I'm not just the Canberra public servant that just stays here. I do go out and see them. And part of my remit is going up north and making sure that listening to the farmers and the members of the industry up there to make sure that we're actually doing what they want us to do.

Steve Peios:

Absolutely. And bringing those messages back here for everybody to work hard to ensure that that's spreading terms of what they're after. That's amazing, Peter. It really is. Just finally, if you could give us your take-home messages, if you don't mind, for our listeners out there, the key take-home messages about the importance of biosecurity compliance and the great work that our division does. I would normally say that your division does when I'm speaking to someone on this, but I can say it is our division and the great work you're doing leading it, key messages.

Peter Timson:

Well, look, biosecurity, as I said, is everyone's responsibility. And it's no different to if you unpacked a container or got something delivered from Amazon or eBay and you open it up and there's some bugs in it. Well, you need to seal it up and call us. I'll give you the details in a sec.

Biosecurity is everyone's responsibility, but for us, it's about working offshore and onshore to make sure that we keep the country safe and pest- and disease-free. And it's important work and it supports everybody in the country.

If people listening go, "Oh, what can I do," well, don't call the police. So call us. You see the stuff on Facebook. Don't call triple zero if your phone has a problem. If you have a problem, if you suspect something's not right, you can report the red line by security number, which is 1-800-803-006. And if you work in industry, we've got a whistle-blower hotline, which is anonymous, which is 1-800-319-595. And I'm sure we can put those in with the podcast links. And as I've said, a lot of members of the public in industry do contact us if they suspect something's not right.

And we do investigate. And I could be perfectly blunt with the listeners, those who do the wrong thing, we do go to that point where we can prosecute the full extent of the law. And we do have some very good investigations, which are well underway. And when they do hit the news, you'll actually see how serious that is because education's our first point, but obviously, those who are deliberately doing the wrong thing, we will investigate you, and we'll use whatever resources and powers we have under our acts. If we can't, we'll reach out to our partner agencies and see if they can assist.

Steve Peios:

Fantastic. Absolutely. Great messages there, Pete. I've taken a lot from it and to hear that from yourself as the leader of our division is really important, I feel like, to make sure that everybody working in the division is working towards that common goal. And I think one of my key take-home messages as well from yourself is how personally you take that as well, and not just being a... It's a reputation that a lot of us get, unfortunately, for right or wrong reasons. But just a Canberra bureaucrat that doesn't care, but caring is a big part of this job and we want to make sure that that continues and carries on that way. So may I say on behalf of everybody here at the podcast, thanks so much for joining us. Keep up the great work, please. And we look forward to hopefully hearing from you shortly in season two or season three with some more anecdotes and some of those big name stories in the news or whatever the case may be.

Peter Timson:

Well, thanks very much. And hopefully, some of the jobs have come to fruition. We can talk about them the next round. But thanks very much. It was great to participate. Thank you.

Steve Peios:

Absolutely. No, thanks so much for that, Peter. Ladies and gentlemen, that was Peter Timson. He's the first assistant secretary, excuse me, almost got tongue tied on that one, of the Compliance and Enforcement Division. That was a magnificent chat. Thanks again, Peter.

Take-home messages for all of our listeners out there, of course, is that prevention is much better than the treatment. Anything that we can do to push biosecurity risk offshore, as well as education being such a key component, that collaborative nature of getting involved with the community, the industry and everybody involved. Biosecurity matters. Biosecurity is everybody's business. And please ensure that you're doing your best to keep Australia free from pests and diseases.