Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member who acknowledged the importance of the Customs Amendment (Anti-dumping Improvements) Bill 2011. This is an important bill realising reforms that were announced by the government in June this year. I would like to take a moment to thank those who contributed to the debate. Before I do, I present a replacement explanatory memorandum entitled Customs Amendment (Anti-dumping Improvements) Bill 2011.

As I was saying, this is an important bill and I do thank those who contributed to this debate. I thank the member for Throsby for his generous words and I also thank the members for Indi, Barker, Fadden, Hughes, Murray, Blair, Wakefield, Newcastle, Hindmarsh and Oxley for their contributions. The fact that the opposition has supported this bill is a good thing. In the typical generosity of spirit that the member for Indi is renowned for, she attacked the government but commended the bill. She, as you know, Madam Deputy Speaker, chairs an anti-dumping task force which does not seem to have much force or any meaningful tasks, but I do applaud the opposition for seeing sense and supporting this bill.

It is somewhat disappointing that these reforms were not undertaken some time ago, perhaps 10 years ago, but these reforms are important. We need to ensure that industry and workers in this country are afforded sufficient support. We as a government support trade. Trade has brought great wealth to this nation; we are a great exporter and, indeed, we are an importer. We support the World Trade Organisation rules but we also want to ensure that, when those rules are broken, we have the capacity to support our industry and workers in order to ensure that those rules are not broken again. We need to ensure that we have sufficient capacity to redress the material damage that occurs when people are in breach of WTO rules.

This bill realises some of the announcements that were made in June by me and the Minister for Trade. I would like to thank the Minister for Trade for his work on this matter as well. The package of reforms announced in June reflects the government's response to the Productivity Commission's report into Australia's anti-dumping regime. These reforms also respond to issues that Senator Xenophon identified in his proposed amendments to the anti-dumping system which he introduced into the Senate in March this year. This bill also takes into account issues that have been raised by stakeholders in relation to the operation of Australia's anti-dumping system that were not referred to in the Productivity Commission's report or, indeed, in Senator Xenophon's bill.

I would like to thank the industry representatives, some very significant companies—BlueScope, OneSteel, Orica and many others—and the Australian Industry Group. I would also like to thank the Australian Workers Union—Madam Deputy Speaker D'Ath, you know them well—the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union for their very positive contributions on these matters. We have seen representatives of workers and businesses put very positive suggestions to government and I do believe we have done everything we can to engage with them. This bill is an expression of some of the things we are seeking to do to make the anti-dumping regime in this country more effective, more robust and more capable of ensuring that we respond to breaches of WTO rules. An anti-dumping regime is very important to ensure confidence in trade. It is important so that we can ensure that those that are doing the wrong thing are indeed taken to task.

These amendments were also drafted in close consultation with the Office of International Law within the Attorney-General's Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I would like to thank them for their work along with, of course, my agency, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. They have done an outstanding job in order to ensure that they are consistent with Australia's international obligations.

The government is committed, as I say, to a robust and effective anti-dumping system. This first tranche of reforms directly responds to concerns expressed by stakeholders about the accessibility and timeliness of the anti-dumping system. These amendments will further strengthen the anti-dumping system by enhancing decision making in relation to how material injury to an Australian industry is assessed. They will also enhance accessibility by ensuring that all interested parties with a stake in the anti-dumping system will have the opportunity to participate and be heard in the anti-dumping investigations.

The amendments in the bill also update the legislation to ensure that Australian companies can take action against the full range of subsidies provided by the relevant WTO agreements which specify the types of government subsidies that can be actioned by another country. Finally, in relation to the improved timeliness of the system, these amendments provide that the minister will exercise his or her decision-making powers within 30 days of receiving a report or recommendation on which to make a decision, thereby ensuring that the decision-making process is not unduly protracted. With those words I commend this bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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