Senate inquiry to scrutinise chemical regulator’s decision on weedkiller paraquatBy Kallee Buchanan and Kate Forrester
Posted Wed 9 Sep 2026 at 3:43pmWed 9 Sep 2026 at 3:43pmWed 9 Sep 2026 at 3:43pm, updated Wed 9 Sep 2026 at 4:28pmWed 9 Sep 2026 at 4:28pmWed 9 Sep 2026 at 4:28pm
In short:
Senator David Pocock has launched a senate inquiry into the continued use of the controversial chemical paraquat.
It follows chemical regulator APVMA’s decision in June to continue to allow the use of the popular herbicide after a decades-long review.
What’s next?
Public submissions are open until October 22, 2026.
The chemical regulator’s decision to allow the continued use of controversial weed killer paraquat will be scrutinised by a Senate committee inquiry.
Independent senator David Pocock successfully referred the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) decision to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee, with support from the Greens and the Coalition.
“We’ve seen the APVMA having a rolling review of paraquat for nearly 30 years,” Senator Pocock said.
“In the meantime, 70 countries have banned paraquat because of the health risks.
“I think there are some real questions to ask about the way that the APVMA is going about regulating chemicals in this country.“
In June, the APVMA concluded a 30-year review of the herbicide, restricting its use and application rates, but stopped short of a complete ban.
The decision was criticised by experts and advocates, who accused the regulator of ignoring evidence of the links to increased rates of Parkinson’s disease.
“I have had so many experts in this space raise concerns about the way that the APVMA looked at evidence, the weighting that they gave to different studies, and that’s really concerning,” Senator Pocock said.
“The APVMA concluded that the available evidence did not convincingly demonstrate a direct causal link.
“That seems counter to what the scientific consensus is.”
At the time of its decision, the APVMA said it received 171 submissions from scientists, doctors, the agricultural industry and other interested parties, which included concerns about human health, farming viability and environmental impact.
In a statement, a spokesperson from the APVMA said the review included an additional 134 peer-reviewed studies on the possible associations between paraquat exposure and Parkinson’s disease submitted after the publication of a draft proposal in 2024.
“Parkinson’s disease is devastating for people living with it and their families, and it is understandable there is strong interest in identifying potential causes,” the spokesperson said.
“The final decision also introduced significant new safeguards and removed uses that did not meet contemporary standards.
“The APVMA is confident that paraquat products can be used safely when used in accordance with the instructions approved at the conclusion of the reconsideration.“
The spokesperson said the regulator would “engage constructively” with the parliamentary process.
Wide ramifications
Senator Pocock said the inquiry would consider the broader issues of transparency and integrity, which could have ramifications for other chemicals and the regulatory framework.
“This is an opportunity for the Senate to actually look at all of this, weigh it up and ensure that we’re protecting our farmers if there is a material risk to them,” he said.
“I’ve heard from farmers who have parents who’ve developed Parkinson’s … and from really good farmers who are using low-till, no-till agriculture and relying on paraquat.
“This is something that needs to take all of that into account and ensure that we’re making decisions that put farmers’ health front and centre.”
But WA Farmers grain council president Mark Fowler said he had not heard from Senator Pocock, and the inquiry risked undermining the APVMA’s independence.
“We have a system in Australia where chemical regulation is manifestly independent of industry and government, which uses science as its sole point of reference for making decisions,”
Mr Fowler said.
“[The Senate] can’t provide a decision on paraquat, but they can certainly set the framework and parameters in a different way, which is very much about popular politics rather than scientific and regulatory processes.”
Mr Fowler said comparisons with countries that have already banned the chemical failed to consider differences in how it was used and regulated in Australia.
“Australia applies a risk-based approach to its determination of these matters … that means the risk has to be taken into account,”
he said.
“In a lot of other countries they apply a hazard approach, where if something is dangerous without regard to the dose or the exposure or the risk, it can sometimes still be banned.
“Lots of those other countries also have popular politics involved in their process in a far greater way than Australia.”
Mr Fowler said he was shocked to learn the Coalition had supported the inquiry.
“The Liberals and the Nationals are supposed to be connected to their rural roots,”
he said.
“This does not reflect that at all.
“Politicising one of our cornerstone chemicals for the system we depend on in Australia is not in grain growers’ or farmers’ interests.”
Parkinson’s Australia chief executive Olivia Nassaris welcomed the inquiry, and said she would continue campaigning for a ban on paraquat.
“We cannot bury our heads in the sand about the use of paraquat and the evidence that shows its toxicity in neurons,”
she said.
“Why else have about 70 countries so far, including the UK, the European Union, China — and just in July, India — all banned the use of the chemical?”
According to a study published by the British Medical Journal in 2025, the number of people living with Parkinson’s globally was expected to more than double by 2050, affecting about 25 million people.
Ms Nassaris said this put pressure on the health system and economy.
“We have to do something to stop it,” she said.
The inquiry is expected to deliver its report early in 2027.