In case you missed it

So here's something I missed between Question Time, Ahmed Fahour and everything else that happened this afternoon.

My colleague Anna Vidot has been keeping an ear across Senate Estimates, where Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines chief executive Kareen Arthy confirmed a new facility will need to be built in northern NSW to accommodate the agency.

Remember - this is the body that Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce announced would move from Canberra to his electorate for an estimated total of $25.6 million.



Correspondence obtained by the ABC late last year revealed an exodus of key scientists has begun from the authority - as of December, only about 10 to 15 of the APVMA's 100 staff members have agreed to move to Armidale while about 85 per cent have said they will take redundancies.

Today, a Senate Committee heard that one in five regulatory scientists has now quit the national chemical regulator.

Dr Arthy informing senators that 20 out of 100 regulatory scientists have now left the agency and the residue assessments team is operating at half strength.

The agency has started missing deadlines for short-term chemical applications by two to five weeks.



Dr Arthy said: