Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present three government responses to committee reports as listed at item 15 on today's Order of Business. In accordance with the usual practice, I seek leave to have the documents incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The documents read as follows—

Australian Government response to the Senate Economics References Committee report:

Future of Australia's Steel Industry—Interim Report

February 2017

Background

On 26 November 2015, the Senate referred the following matters to the Senate Economics References Committee (the committee) for inquiry and report:

(a) The future sustainability of Australia's strategically vital steel industry and its supply chain; and

(b) Any other related matters.

On the dissolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives on 9 May 2016 for a general election on 2 July 2016, the parliamentary committees of the 44th Parliament ceased to exist. At that time, the committee's inquiry lapsed.

On 11 October 2016, the Senate agreed to the committee's recommendation that the inquiry be re-referred in the 45th Parliament and for a final report to be presented by 1 December 2017.

The committee resolved to re-open submissions with a closing date of 17 February 2017. This was notified on the committee's website and additional direct invitations were issued to stakeholders.

At the time of the tabling of the committee's interim report on 1 December 2016, the committee had received 39 submissions to the inquiry.

On 1 December 2016, the committee tabled its interim report which included three recommendations.

Go vernment response

The Government notes the recommendations of the Interim Report and Senators' additional comments, and advises that it is working closely with Arrium's administrator, KordaMentha, and the South Australian state government to secure the long-term sustainable operations of the Whyalla steelworks.

During 2016 the Government made significant commitments to help secure the ongoing viability of the Whyalla steelworks and support the wider region. This included:

Building on these commitments, the Government has highlighted further loan support which can be made available to the new owners of Arrium's Whyalla steelworks through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation. This loan support will help attract investments for the long-term sustainable operations of the steelworks.

The Government understands the challenges facing Arrium and the wider steel sector, including pressure from low prices impacted by global overcapacity. The Government has recently implemented a range of initiatives that support Australian steel making and the manufacturing sector more broadly. These include:

Code for the Tendering and Performance of Building Work 2016

The Government will continue to liaise closely with the Administrators as they prepare Arrium's businesses for sale, and will work with the new owners of the Whyalla steelworks to help secure the ongoing viability of its operations.

Australian Government response to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration report: Seasonal change

Inquiry into the Seasonal Worker Programme

FEBRUARY 2017

Overview

The Australian Government welcomes the report by the Joint Standing Committee on Migration into the Seasonal Worker Programme.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the Seasonal Worker Programme delivers results for all stakeholders and continues to contribute to:

The Seasonal Worker Programme is a whole-of-government programme administered by the Department of Employment in collaboration with other agencies including the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Australian Taxation Office and Austrade.

Under the Seasonal Worker Programme, many thousands of workers from Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste have benefited from the opportunity to work in the agriculture and accommodation sectors where employers cannot source enough Australian labour.

The majority of seasonal workers that participate in the programme have a positive experience and are able to remit earnings back home to their families and communities. A study by the World Bank into remittances under the Seasonal Worker Programme pilot in 2011 indicated that a typical seasonal worker earned $12,000-$13,000 in Australia, of which approximately $5,000 was sent back home. The World Bank is currently updating this study.

The Seasonal Worker Programme provides a reliable and returning seasonal workforce to employers. Employers sourcing labour under the Seasonal Worker Programme report efficiencies by having access to a productive seasonal workforce with reduced absenteeism and staff turnover.

There have been significant reforms to the Seasonal Worker Programme over the last eighteen months. These include the uncapping of the programme from 1 July 2015 so that demand is driven by employers' need for labour and expanding it to the broader agriculture sector. A trial of the programme in the tourism sector in Northern Australia has also commenced.

The Government will continue to work with stakeholders to communicate these reforms and build the ongoing success of the Seasonal Worker Programme.

Australian Government response

The Government's response to Seasonal Change is set out in detail below.

Role of seasonal workers in the horticulture industry Recommendation one:

The Government does not support this recommendation.

The Australian Government does not support further reviews of the Working Holiday Maker and Seasonal Worker Programmes by December 2017. A number of comprehensive reviews into these programmes have either been completed or are currently underway.

The Government has completed a review of the Working Holiday Maker Visa programme. The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation completed a study on the productivity of new migrants, including seasonal workers, in Australia on 12 October 2016.

A number of domestic and international reviews of the Seasonal Worker Programme will be undertaken during 2017. These reviews will take account of the changes to expand and streamline the Seasonal Worker Programme announced by the Government in June 2015 in Our North, Our Future: White Paper on Developing Northern Australia.

They will:

(1) assess the development impact of the programme on workers, labour sending communities and countries, with a particular focus on gender aspects.

(2) assess the productivity of seasonal workers and the costs, benefits and other factors impacting on farm profits associated with the Seasonal Worker Programme.

(3) ensure Australian job seekers are not being displaced by the Seasonal Worker Programme.

The Government will continue to consider a number of issues and suggestions that emerged during the Working Holiday Maker Tax Review. In addition, in October 2016, the Government established a Migrant Workers' Taskforce, to target those involved in unscrupulous labour hire practices and the exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers.

Workforce requirements for sectors that may benefit from seasonal workers

Recommendation two:

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government undertake improved qualitative and quantitative research on full-time, part-time and seasonal labour workforce requirements to better inform Government policy.

The Government notes this recommendation.

The Department of Employment collects information from around 12,000 employers across the country each year about their recent recruitment experiences. The Survey of Employers' Recruitment Experiences was modified in January 2016 to identify employers with seasonal staffing requirements. Findings on the recruitment and retention difficulties experienced by employers who have seasonal staffing requirements will be available in early 2017.

Expanding the Seasonal Worker Programme Recommendation three:

The Committee recommends the Australian Government consider expanding the Seasonal Worker Programme to include the aged, child, and disability care sectors, which have already been included in the White Paper on Developing Northern Australia.

The Government does not support this recommendation.

The Seasonal Worker Programme is designed to meet short-term seasonal labour needs of Australian employers in industries that experience seasonal peaks. The skills requirements and lack of seasonal peaks in demand in the aged, child and disability care sector go beyond the parameters of the Seasonal Worker Programme.

To address non-seasonal labour needs in Northern Australia, the Government is piloting the potential for workers from specific Pacific Islands to work in aged care, as well as other sectors, through the Pacific Microstates–Northern Australia Worker Pilot Programme. This initiative was announced by the Government in June 2015 in Our North, Our Future: White Paper on Developing Northern Australia.

The pilot will run for five years, allowing up to 250 citizens (around 50 per year) from Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu to work for two to three years in Northern Australia. It aims to address labour and skill shortages in Northern Australia and provide workers from Pacific Microstates with better access to employment opportunities.

Impact on the Australian labour force Recommendation four:

The Government notes this recommendation.

The Government agrees that attracting, employing and retaining local labour in the broad agriculture sector is vital to ensuring that the industry remains sustainable in the long term. The Seasonal Work Incentives for Jobseekers pilot will provide incentives for young jobseekers to undertake seasonal work in the horticultural industry.

The Government also has a range of initiatives to support young people into employment:

Increased access for women and youth workers Recommendation five:

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government implement the following measures to increase gender equality and provide women greater employment opportunities:

The Government notes this recommendation.

All Memoranda of Understanding with partner countries set out critical success factors for the Seasonal Worker Programme, which state that the arrangements will be effective if opportunities for employment facilitate inclusive participation by women and under-represented groups.

To support this, the Government is working with Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste to improve women's participation in the Seasonal Worker Programme. A key objective of the Labour Mobility Assistance Program ($5.8 million, 2016–2017) is to increase the number of women from Pacific Island Countries and Timor-Leste taking up and benefitting from seasonal work opportunities.

Under the Labour Mobility Assistance Program each partner country has negotiated a work plan that includes specific activities to improve gender equity in the Seasonal Worker Programme. For example, in Papua New Guinea the Australian funded 'Women in Agriculture Program' will promote the participation of women agricultural workers, and help returning seasonal workers share and apply their new skills to the local industry.

In September 2016, the Office for the Chief Trade Adviser for PACER Plus released a Sustainability Impact Assessment of the potential economic, social and environmental impacts of trade liberalisation under PACER Plus on the Pacific Islands Forum Countries and made recommendations for mitigating these impacts. The Sustainability Impact Assessment found that PACER Plus will generally improve the livelihoods of Pacific Island populations, contribute to poverty alleviation, and in some instances narrow the gender gap by providing more employment opportunities to women. Australia will provide development assistance to support Forum Island Countries' participation in PACER Plus; this assistance will include resources dedicated to improving women's ability to benefit from trade.

Development outcomes in the Pacific Recommendation six:

The Government does not support this recommendation.

As outlined in the response to Recommendation 3, the Seasonal Worker Programme is designed to meet short-term seasonal labour needs of Australian employers in industries that experience seasonal peaks.

The Government is piloting the potential for workers from specific Pacific Islands to work in aged care, as well as other sectors, through the Pacific Microstates–Northern Australia Worker Pilot Programme.

The Microstates Pilot will allow the Government to test an employment pathway for Australia Pacific Technical College health and community services industry graduates. Because these industries are not seasonal in nature, the Seasonal Worker Programme is not suited to employment in these areas.

Possible legislative and other impediments Recommendation seven:

The Government notes this recommendation.

The purpose of labour market testing is to ensure that overseas workers are a supplement to, and not a substitute for, Australians. As the report of Joint Committee notes, 'the requirement to undertake market testing is not overly burdensome' (Section 9.27).

The variation in labour market testing requirements reflects a range of factors, primarily the duration and skill level of employment opportunities and the purpose of the visa programme that an employer is looking to utilise. For example, the community would reasonably expect the labour marketing testing requirements to vary according to whether an employer is seeking one highly skilled individual for up to four years (under a 457 visa) compared to short term, seasonal opportunities for a number of unskilled or lower skilled positions (under a 403 visa for the Seasonal Worker Programme).

In all cases employers' recruitment practices must satisfy Australian equal opportunity, anti- discrimination and workplace relations laws. Vacancies and job advertisements published by Australia businesses cannot discriminate against Australian applicants and should not invite applications from persons holding certain types of temporary visas.

Recommendation eight

The Committee recommends that the Department of Treasury undertake a review of current superannuation arrangements for Seasonal Worker Programme participants, having regard to:

The review should be conducted primarily with a view to ensuring seasonal workers receive their full entitlements as efficiently and quickly as possible.

The Government notes this recommendation.

Seasonal Worker Programme participants are subject to the same superannuation rules as most other overseas workers on temporary visas, including that they can claim their superannuation after they leave Australia and their visa is cancelled or expires by applying for a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment.

Australian Government agencies are working to address barriers to participants claiming their superannuation and improve claim rates. Some of the initiatives include educating seasonal workers and governments on the claims process and encouraging governments from labour sending countries to help seasonal workers complete their application.

The Australian Government through the Labour Mobility Assistance Programme is currently updating and enhancing information provided to seasonal workers on living and working in Australia. This includes providing improved pre-departure information that is translated to increase understanding by participating governments' labour sending units and seasonal workers.

The Department of Treasury, Australian Taxation Office and other Australian Government agencies will continue to identify opportunities to streamline administrative processes for seasonal workers to receive superannuation payments once they have departed Australia.

Compliance and related issues Recommendation nine:

The Australian Government response to this recommendation will be addressed in its response to Recommendation 32in the Senate Education and Employment References Committee report

A National Disgrace: The Exploitation of Temporary Work Visa Holders.

Australian Government response to the Senate Select Committee on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan report: Refreshing the Plan

February 2017Introduction

The Senate Select Committee inquiry on the Murray–Darling Basin Plan presented its final report on 17 March 2016. The majority report made 31 recommendations addressing issues that are of great importance to farmers and communities throughout the Murray–Darling Basin and other stakeholders. The Committee received almost 400 submissions to this inquiry.

Minority reports from the Australian Labor Party, the Australian Greens, and Senator Nick Xenophon support the Murray–Darling Basin Plan and associated water reform. The report by the former Senator John Madigan includes 19 recommendations.

There are a number of recommendations made in the Committee's final report which focus on state issues, such as the operation of state desalination plants, water entitlement purchases by state governments and management of water storages. All such issues are for the relevant state government to consider in the first instance.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of the issues raised in the report and provides the following responses to the recommendations.

The Australian Government ' s approach to implementing the Basin Plan

The Australian Government is determined to implement the Basin Plan in a way that ensures the economic and social wellbeing of Basin communities, while delivering on the environmental objectives of the Plan.

In the north, the Northern Basin Review has provided an opportunity to closely examine the impacts of water recovery on Basin communities and explore the most effective way to deliver environmental outcomes. The highly variable nature of the less-regulated northern Basin presents unique challenges and opportunities in water resource management.

The Northern Basin Review was enabled under the Basin Plan because at the time it was written, less was known about the northern Basin than the more developed southern connected system. The data generated as part of the Northern Basin Review and the subsequent recommendations made by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority will lead to amendments to the Basin Plan, and guide its implementation. On 22 November 2016 the Northern Basin Review was released together with proposed Basin Plan amendments, including those arising from the Northern Basin Review. Public consultation on the proposed Basin Plan amendments will occur between November 2016 and February 2017. The Government is grateful to the many stakeholders who have engaged in the review.

The Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) Adjustment Mechanism provides an opportunity to optimise the economic, social and environmental outcomes in the southern Basin. Supply measures provide the opportunity to deliver environmentally equivalent outcomes without requiring as much water to be recovered from consumptive purposes. Thirty-seven supply measures were agreed to by the Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council on 22 April 2016. A previous independent stocktake showed that supply measures have the potential to provide an offset of around 508 gigalitres in the southern Basin.

Following a request by the Ministerial Council the Basin Plan was amended to provide for a second notification of measures to the SDL adjustment mechanism by 30 June 2017. This additional step will allow for a second tranche of supply measure projects to be considered. Basin state ministers also reiterated their request for Basin state government officials to consider opportunities for a wider range of complementary projects, such as carp control, to provide triple bottom line benefits under the Basin Plan.

The Ministerial Council also agreed to the types of projects that may be considered as efficiency measures under the SDL Adjustment Mechanism. In accordance with the Basin Plan, any efficiency measure projects must have positive or neutral social and economic outcomes.

A list of all agreed SDL adjustment projects is available on the Authority's website.

Committee majority recommendations

1. The committee recommends that no further reductions in water entitlements occur until the Northern Basin review, and any subsequent assessments, have been completed. The committee recommends that the review should also consider alternative means of water recovery, particularly in the Condamine-Balonne catchment, in order to minimise the economic and social impact of the Plan in the Northern Basin. This would include consideration of the following options:

Agreed.

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority has completed its review of the northern Basin. The focus of the review was to improve the evidence base from which decisions about water recovery settings could be confidently made using a triple-bottom line approach — weighing up social, economic and environmental considerations. As a part of the review, the Authority has consulted with various stakeholder groups in the north to seek their views on the implementation of the Basin Plan.

The Authority also considered a range of actions in addition to water recovery that could be implemented to reduce the adverse social and economic impacts of the Basin Plan while also providing opportunities for improved water management to enhance the use of environmental water.

As a result of its review, the Authority has proposed that the overall water recovery target in the northern Basin reduce from 390 gigalitres on average to 320 gigaligtres provided there are commitments from Basin state governments to implement a range of measures to improve water management.

Through the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, the Australian Government has established the Northern Basin Programmes Taskforce to investigate how to achieve the remaining water recovery in the northern Basin in ways that minimise the impact on communities. Drawing from key industry and community stakeholder input, the taskforce will provide advice on ways that avoid further water purchase and deliver social and economic benefits to communities. The Taskforce may also make recommendations to assist progress of toolkit measures.

The Taskforce may also make recommendations to assist progress of toolkit measures, including temporary trade of environmental water. Temporary trade of water from one location to another provides protection for water holders to ensure the water reaches its destination. As a toolkit measure, temporary trade is important to ensure environmental water can be delivered at appropriate times to key environmental assets, and will help to meet environmental targets under the proposed 320 gigalitre water recovery target.

Under the Healthy Headwaters Water Use Efficiency Program, entitlement holders above Beardmore Dam became eligible to participate in this on-farm infrastructure programme from January 2016.

The Government will consult with Basin state governments on its water recovery strategy and ensure that any recoveries are strategic and minimise risk of over-recovery.

2. The committee recommends that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, as part of its ongoing social and economic work, undertake and publish a thorough assessment of the estimated and actual social and economic impacts of the implementation of the Plan, including of pursuing the remaining water recovery for the Condamine-Balonne catchment and other similarly distressed areas.

Agreed.

The Water Act 2007 and Basin Plan require regular periodic reporting of social and economic impacts. The first of these reports will be completed in 2017, with a second report due in 2020 and subsequent reports every 5 years thereafter.

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority is collecting social and economic data to inform its role in evaluating and reviewing the Basin Plan, including through the Northern Basin Review. Reporting of this work occurs in a number of ways including through Basin Plan annual reports and in the reports prepared for the Northern Basin Review. The social and economic assessment conducted as part of the Northern Basin Review is available on the Authority's website.

3. The committee recommends that the MDBA address the existing over-recovery in the Macquarie Valley and other 'terminal' systems such as the Gwydir Valley, with a view to limiting recovery to amounts which address valley-specific environmental needs.

Agreed.

The Basin Plan identifies only the Lachlan and Wimmera-Mallee as terminal systems. The northern Basin is regarded as a connected system. Both the Macquarie and Gwydir valleys connect into the Barwon−Darling River above certain flows.

The final recovery amounts required in these rivers will not be settled until the process to amend the Basin Plan is completed. Public consultation on the current proposed Basin Plan amendments, which includes amendments related to the Northern Basin Review recommendations, is taking place between November 2016 and February 2017.

The proposed new local recovery volume in the Macquarie is 55 gigalitres, which is a 10 gigalitres reduction from Basin Plan settings. The results of the northern Basin review show that local environmental needs in the Macquarie can be met with this lower volume.

The proposed local recovery target for the Gwydir Valley is the same as the current Basin Plan settings. The modelling scenario used as the basis for the proposed amendment assumed that the Gwydir would not need to contribute to the shared reduction amount. The opportunity exists for the New South Wales and Queensland governments to request changes to the way in which the shared reduction is distributed between catchments, which may minimise the risk of over-recovery in any catchment.

4. The committee recommends that federal and state governments examine options for securing Broken Hill's water supply as recommended by the Broken Hill City Council, including raising the trigger point for releases, and improving infrastructure storage at Menindee Lakes.

Agreed.

Broken Hill's water supply is the responsibility of the New South Wales Government. On 16 June 2016, the New South Wales Government announced that it would fund the construction of a pipeline from the River Murray to secure water supply to Broken Hill.

The Australian Government is committed to improving the management of the Menindee Lakes in partnership with the New South Wales Government.

The rules for the operation of the Menindee Lakes, including the trigger points, are an important element of the operation of the River Murray system. Any rule changes require the agreement of all relevant Basin jurisdictions.

5. The committee recommends that an environmental watering plan be developed for the Menindee Lakes, provided that Adelaide's water supply and that of South Australian irrigators and landholders dependent on the Murray, is secure.

Agreed.

There is an existing agreement between the Australian and New South Wales Governments, which provides funding to investigate infrastructure and operational changes at the Menindee Lakes which could help reduce significant evaporation losses without adversely impacting third parties including downstream users and the environment. As part of this work, the New South Wales Government is investigating the environmental watering requirements for the Menindee Lakes to ensure that the environmental values are maintained under potential changed operational arrangements being investigated for the system.

6. The committee recommends the Commonwealth assume liability for damage to private property from environmental watering events, including to both landholders and third parties, except to parties who have given prior consent to such flooding.

Not agreed.

Legal responsibility for any adverse impacts due to the release of water from storages is with the relevant authority that manages the storage. Operators are bound to act at all times in accordance with the relevant operating procedures in fulfilling orders placed for consumptive or environmental water.

River operators will not deliver environmental flows at levels above the operational limits that apply to all water deliveries, including irrigation orders.

7. The committee recommends that the MDBA and state governments address the issue of third party impacts from environmental watering events during the development of constraints proposals, and clearly communicate with landholders who are likely to be affected by such events.

Agreed.

The development of constraints proposals is the responsibility of Basin state governments as set out in the Intergovernmental Agreement on Implementing Water Reform in the Murray-Darling Basin. The Murray–Darling Basin Authority's 2013 Constraints Management Strategy, developed under the Basin Plan to assist states in the development of constraint proposals, stated that projects need to:

Water Act 2007

State government agencies in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia will be responsible for the ongoing consultation with potentially affected landholders and communities on their proposals to deliver higher flows while managing any potential impacts.

8. The committee recommends that the MDBA review its communication methods, particularly with regard to projects still in development such constraints proposals, and improve its ability to incorporate the views of communities and landholde