Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks for the opportunity to sum up on this really important bill that is before the parliament. I want to acknowledge the contribution of all MPs who have spoken on this bill and, in particular, the member for Menzies who just spoke then. Everyone in the chamber will be aware that the member for Menzies has a very proud record of serving his country in uniform. I acknowledge his service and the important impact that that has on his contribution to these debates. We're very lucky in the parliament that we have a number of members of parliament who have a very proud history of serving their country. It's a very important thing which members on all sides of the parliament greatly respect.

The Customs Tariff Amendment (Incorporation of Proposals) Bill 2023 incorporates the customs tariff proposals tabled in August and November last year, as well as making a number of minor amendments. The bill amends the Customs Tariff Act 1995 to align references to tariff headings and subheadings in the 2022 harmonized commodity description and coding systems nomenclature. It inserts provisions for the following: a 35 per cent temporary additional duty on goods that are the produce or manufacture of Russia and Belarus; a free rate of customs duty for goods other than excise equivalent goods that are the produce or manufacture of Ukraine; the extension and expansion in the scope of concessional treatment for prescribed medical and hygiene goods, including certain ingredients and containers for medicaments; and a free rate of customs duty for certain electric hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid passenger motor vehicles. The diverse measures in the bill implement Australia's international obligations, maintain the supply of medical and hygiene goods into the future, increase the accessibility of low-emissions transport options and protect Australia's essential security interests in response to the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, with support provided by Belarus.

A lot of the public debate and discussion about what goes on in our parliament is focused on the conflict and the areas of disagreement. There are many of those, and they are legitimately fought out in our parliament using words, not weapons, and every Australian should be proud of that fact. But I want to draw the House's attention to the fact that a bill like this—which, fundamentally, is about Australia expressing its view in the strongest terms possible of the brutal, evil, illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine by Russia—is supported by all sides of the chamber. What has happened in Ukraine demonstrates an approach to the global world order that Australia wants no part in. I'm proud of our country's unified efforts to make sure that we use every tool at our disposal to make our position abundantly clear: that the invasion should never have happened and that every effort must made to ensure that we bring peace to Ukraine and that Ukraine's borders are properly restored. It's really important that our parliament stands strong and in agreement on this. I note that we've got a real unanimity of view in Australia that is not reflected across all countries in the world, so I'm very proud of what we're doing in this bill and proud of the view of the parliament on this. Again I would like to thank all speakers who participated in this debate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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