Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

It all adds up. The Australian Animal Health Council levy is currently set at the maximum rate. The rate cap increase has been requested by Australian Dairy Farmers Ltd as the current maximum rate has been in place for the past 15 years. As outlined by the agriculture minister in his second reading speech, the increase in the cap is significant, but it is important to note that this bill does not increase the actual rates currently paid by industry. The process for determining actual levy rates has not changed. It remains incumbent on the relevant industry body—in this case, Australian Dairy Farmers Ltd—to consult with members and seek their support via ballot before putting the case to government for a rate increase. This process is consistent with our commitment to competent and consultative government—'consultative' being a word we did not hear in the last six years. That word is really important.

Levies raised for the Australian Animal Health Council remain by far the smallest of the four different levies provided for under the act, even after taking into account the proposed increase in the maximum levy rate. The services funded by this levy are recognised as being essential to the very survival of the dairy industry. If we do not have a healthy dairy herd, then we will not have a dairy industry in this country. It is as simple as that, and I know the member for Fraser would agree with me on that point. Australian dairy cows operate in quite different conditions to their American and Canadian sisters, often walking longer distances and experiencing greater variability in weather conditions.

Member levies fund Australian Dairy Farmers Ltd and Animal Health Australia. Through levies and direct government funding, these two bodies promote and support the industry through myriad ways along the entire production value chain, which makes dairy farming and manufacturing in Australia as profitable and sustainable as possible. We have to make sure that it is sustainable. We have to make sure that it is there for the future. A particular focus of their work is on animal health and welfare, on disease monitoring and prevention, and, importantly, on emergency disease management. Some of the work funded by this levy includes: coordination of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, Australian biosecurity planning and implementation, and emergency animal disease preparedness. It is critical that Australia continues to pursue the quality and excellence which our industry is renowned for and which is one of our natural strengths.

Opportunities presented in the recently agreed Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement mean Australian farmers will have improved access to a major foreign market. Under this agreement, tariffs of 36 per cent on cheese and 89 per cent on butter will be eliminated over the next 13 to 20 years. I commend the Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb, for his work in this regard. Duty-free quotas on cheese, butter and infant formula will also be expanded, conferring further benefits for our exporters. They are Australian farmers, world's best-practice farmers, being benefited by the good work of Mr Robb. I again commend the trade minister for his hard work and his ongoing diligence in pursuing this historic agreement that will deliver so much for our local industry over the years to come.

Looking beyond Korea, Australia has even more opportunities presented by growing demand from China, India and other growing Asian economies for high-quality dairy products from, I say it again, Australia's world's best-practice farmers. Australia is well positioned to meet this growing demand. I well recall the former Prime Minister Julia Gillard talking about how we needed to feed the burgeoning population in the Asian century, and she was right. I agreed with her on every point. She made that wonderful landmark Melbourne speech where she talked up Australia as a food bowl. Unfortunately, we did not see the policies flowing on from that. Enabling our industry to maintain and protect the health of our herd ensures that Australian dairy farming will continue to be around for a long, long time, which will ultimately deliver benefits for everybody. We need it to continue into the future.

May I also take this opportunity to thank our dairy farmers, not only in my own electorate of Riverina but right across the country. They do a remarkable job producing some of the best, if not the best, dairy in the world, and they do it with little government assistance. Each of them has in their own way contributed to the development of one of the most enviable dairy industries in the world.

I commend the bill to the House. I further add that Australian farmers are not as heavily subsidised as their international competitors. They are at the moment being slugged with a carbon tax, unlike many of their international competitors. The member for Hunter in his speech talked about some of the practices of the coalition being back in the 19th century and called on us to get into the 21st century. I just wish some of the previous Labor government's practices had been in the 19th century when it came to irrigation thinking. I refer to one of the great pioneers of the Riverina—in fact, one of the great pioneers of Australian farming—Sir Samuel McCaughey, of whom there is a wonderful bronze statue now situated in a special park in a town called Yanco in my electorate, which is very much the heartland of the Riverina. It is halfway between Mt Kosciuszko and Hillston, which is about the breadth of my electorate. Sir Samuel pioneered those irrigation channels which gave life to what was described by the early explorers as an arid wasteland. He brought a veritable garden of Eden through his waterways, his channels and his vision for the Riverina. He brought hope, he brought life, he brought economies—

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