David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the federal coalition I rise to speak on the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Bill 2023 and the related set of primary industry bills—six primary industry bills which all go to the core of Australia's agricultural levy system. This is a package of bills which involve a national levy framework that is both comprehensive and complex in its nature, but which provides a crucial role in securing and strengthening the resilience and sustainability of Australian agriculture.

Before we go into the detail of this legislation, it's important to recognise that our nation's agricultural levy system is something we should be immensely proud of. Growers, producers and industry stakeholders all agree that the statutory levy system has been a resounding success over many decades. It has achieved what it was intended to do and done this resoundingly. So any legislation that modifies or changes this framework must be considered carefully. Having done so, I can advise that, while the federal coalition will be supporting the passage of these bills through the House, there are some areas within this legislation package that need to be scrutinised. That's why I'm giving notice that we will be moving detailed amendments—amendments that we believe are necessary to ensure the transparency of Australia's levy framework.

Our $80 billion agricultural sector makes an extraordinary contribution to the economic, social and environmental fabric of our nation. More than 300,000 Australians have jobs in agriculture, fisheries or forestry, while a further 229,000 are employed in the food and beverage manufacturing sector. Not only do our farmers produce our food and fibre but they also manage and care for 50 per cent of the entire Australian land mass. It's an incredible record, and an important reason behind this success is the agricultural levies. Australia's agricultural levy system provides for an industry led levy or charge to be imposed on farmers to pay for research; innovation and development; marketing; biosecurity activities; and national residue testing, as well as ensuring an effective response to any incursion of exotic pests or diseases. In short, these levies are used to fund priorities and initiatives a farmer could not pay for individually. Responsibility for collecting the levies on behalf of the sector lies with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. These funds are then paid to levy recipient bodies, which include the 15 research and development corporations, plus Animal Health Australia, Plant Health Australia and the National Residue Survey.

Despite the essential need for these levies, there is widespread acknowledgement that the current legislative framework does come with a fair degree of complexity and red tape. Since commencing more than 30 years ago, this framework has resulted in more than 50 pieces of legislation which govern more than 110 levies across 75 commodities and 18 levy recipients. The federal coalition recognises that this is not ideal and that it does result in some confusion for farmers and the agricultural industry. That's why, when we were in government, the coalition kickstarted a comprehensive review into the levies framework that was aimed at streamlining, modernising and deregulating the system. This review on the levies legislation was conducted in 2018 and included targeted consultation with 70 stakeholders. Overall, it found the legislative framework serves the objectives of the agricultural levy sufficiently. It also concluded that it was necessary for forging a strong relationship between government and industry. Despite this, the review also concluded that the current legislation is ineffective in meeting the industry's needs, both now and into the future. The message was clear: it was complex and inconsistent, and that with sensible changes the system could work better.

So we took action. After this review, the former coalition government committed $7.2 million over four years in the 2020 budget to modernise the levy framework into one that was business friendly, fit for purpose and easy to use. So it's absolutely clear that streamlining and modernising the agricultural levy framework is something the coalition strongly supports. Ultimately, this is the government's proclaimed intent of the six bills that are before the House today, and the intent is commendable.

The six bills in this package, which were introduced to modernise the framework, have been classified as follows. There are three imposition bills: the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Bill 2023, the Primary Industries (Customs) Charges Bill 2023 and the Primary Industries (Services) Levies Bill 2023. There is one collection bill: the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Bill 2023. There is one disbursement bill: the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Disbursement Bill 2023. There is one consequential amendment bill: the Primary Industries (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023.

I will start with the three imposition bills, which will enable existing excise levies and custom charges to be re-established in regulations imposing levies on products such as grains, red meat, poultry and forestry. Currently, levies and charges are split between acts and regulations, so this will allow quicker and easier adjustments to be made to the levy system, including to the rates. We also note that there is a consultation process that must happen with farmers before a levy or charge rates are changed. Other notable take-outs from this imposition bill include the ability to impose excise levies on certain agricultural services. As an example this would include bee pollination services that are provided on a commercial basis to pollinate orchards and crops, which is an industry opportunity that was not available before.

The regulations will impose levies in relation to goods for use in the production of nursery products. Excise levies and custom charges will now be provided in relation to goods consumed by, or used in, the maintenance or treatment of animals, plants, fungi or algae. This will allow the horse disease response levy to be provided for in regulations, rather than in the standalone bill that we have currently. Importantly, a consistent framework will be established across all three of these imposition bills, capturing definitions and exemptions from levies or charges, as well as the rates of these. The bills also provide an instrument to set out the requirements for the conduct of a poll, which will allow the re-establishment of requirements for polls that are in place for the dairy and wool industries.

Also contained in this legislation are some additional changes to Australia's levy system. This includes streamlining the ministerial process for specifying particular industry bodies, making it easier to adapt as names change, bodies merge or new bodies are established. Making other regulations and instruments will also be allowed, which will foster flexibility and deliver arrangements that are tailored to suit the agricultural industry needs. Meanwhile the maximum charge rate will be removed—a move which the government explanatory memorandum says has the support of industry stakeholders. Overall, the federal coalition believes that these measures are practical and will help make the levy system more efficient, more logical and more orderly. However, it's important to recognise that there are further improvements which should be made to these imposition bills so that the transparency of Australia's agricultural levy system is maintained and protected.

During consideration in detail, we will pursue this by moving detailed amendments that the coalition hopes will be supported by the House in the spirit of bipartisanship. This will involve clarifying and solidifying the essential roles that Animal Health Australia, the AHA, and Plant Health Australia, the PHA, have within the levy framework. Both the AHA and PHA are integral in securing a national approach to enhancing Australia's plant and animal health status. They do this by facilitating industry-government partnerships for pest and disease preparedness, prevention, emergency response and management.

In these bills, reference to the existing AHA levy and PHA levy have been removed. In fact the levies have been renamed as the 'biosecurity activity levy'. This is problematic. The coalition believes that removing reference to the AHA and PHA will, as a direct consequence, reduce the transparency of where the levy funds are going. Unfortunately, this has the capacity to generate confusion for levy payers, especially when we consider the future introduction of the government's biosecurity protection levy. Combined with this proposed biosecurity activity levy, this would establish three biosecurity levies. This is not an ideal outcome, and it actually goes against the aim of these bills, which is to streamline, simplify and modernise. As I've said, the coalition will be pursuing this matter further via amendments.

The government 's collection bill—the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Bill 2023—forms the second part of this legislative package, and I'm pleased to confirm it has the support of the coalition. We are comfortable that the provisions in this bill will improve the agricultural levy framework. Basically, it allows all levies and charges enabled by the three imposition bills to be gathered by the government, and it does not change how individual agricultural levies and charges are collected.

This bill will also modernise the levy framework's monitoring, investigation and enforcement powers and bring it into line with other government regulatory schemes. In other measures, it will introduce infringement notices and civil penalties which allow for proportionate response to non-compliance. It will support the continued use and disclosure of information to administer the levy system, and it will strengthen research outcomes by allowing ABARES and other Commonwealth entities to access levy-payer and collection-agent information for statistical and agricultural policy development purposes.

Finally, we move into the disbursement piece of this package, the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Disbursement Bill 2023, which is supported by the coalition. This disbursement bill simply allows the levies which are collected by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to be given out to the 18 recipient bodies, these of course being the 15 research and development corporations, Animal Health Australia, Plant Health Australia and the National Residue Survey.

It's worth noting that the amount of funding collected by agricultural levies is significant. In 2021-22, the department collected around $600 million, and over the forward estimates that figure is not expected to change to any great extent.

In summing up this package of bills, I want to reaffirm that improving the structure, efficiency and operation of Australia's agricultural levy system is something that the federal coalition is strongly committed to. It was a process that commenced when we were in office, and, on the side of the House, we will always work constructively with government on measures that will benefit our agricultural sector. Therefore, the coalition will be supporting the passage of these bills through the House and moving amendments that will ensure our levy system is completely transparent in how it's run.

Another reason why we'll be supporting this legislation is because it is different from Labor's proposed Biosecurity Protection Levy, which is expected to take $153 million from farmers over the next three years. However, the coalition is concerned the imposition of this new levy will interfere with existing industry imposed levies by causing confusion in the sector and potentially putting the whole agricultural levy system at risk. But not only would the new biosecurity protection levy cause confusion, it's just bad, lazy policy and punishes farmers.

Announced by the government in their May budget, this new levy was Labor's answer to delivering a sustainable funding model for biosecurity. Under the government's levy, Australian farmers will be hit with a bill equivalent to 10 per cent of their existing industry-led agricultural levies from 1 July next year. This approach is appalling, shocking and absurd. Why would any Australian government tax their own farmers to pay for the biosecurity risks of their international competitors to bring their products into this country. To slug our farmers with this levy hit is fundamentally unfair. In fact, at Senate estimates when the minister for agriculture was questioned on why the levy was set at a rate of 10 per cent, he admitted he felt this rate was a fair contribution to make. Crucially, this amount was not based on any kind of economic modelling or evidence—it was simply plucked from thin air.

Having dealt with this legislation today, we know the agricultural sector already contributes significant amounts of funding into biosecurity activities through their existing industry levies. The government should appreciate this reality and immediately scrap such a forward proposal. They should listen to those voices of industry stakeholders who are united in their opposition to what amounts to an undeserved tax grab on the hardworking men and women who produce our food and fibre.

When it comes to agricultural levies and maintaining the integrity of our nation's biosecurity system, this policy completely misses the mark. On this side of the House, we know that having a strong and robust biosecurity system is vital for protecting Australia against the threat of exotic pests and disease. That's why the coalition has always supported a sustainable funding model for biosecurity. However, taxing farmers was never considered or part of the mix. In contrast to those opposite, our approach to funding biosecurity into the long-term was targeted at the risk creators, the importers. This was to be done through what is known as a container import levy, which would apply to all containerised cargo imported into Australia by sea. This is what the coalition stands for and it's what the agricultural sector is calling for. This government ought to apply some commonsense, listen to these concerns and take the action that's required.

In conclusion, the federal coalition is proud of Australia's world-leading agricultural levy system and the enormous contribution that it makes in the fields of innovation, research and biosecurity. We want to see this success continue in the future. Our primary producers and our national biosecurity system depend on a levy framework that is fair, modern and efficient. When it comes to the measures outlined in these six bills before the House today, they have our support and we hope the coalition's sensible amendments will have the support of the government.

Debate adjourned.