Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to say at the outset that Labor will be supporting this bill. The Farm Household Support Amendment (Debt Waiver) Bill 2021 outlines the criteria for the waiver, preserves the four years of payment in every 10-year period, allows time for farm household allowance recipients to comply with their existing obligations and provides a definitive end to the BIR and the waiver process. I want to be clear that we are supporting this but we're concerned that the government changed this system back on 1 July 2020 and it's taken them this long to get in here and to do something about the waiving of debts that were calculated under the previous system. Of course, we've seen from this government how it deals with people that owe debts to this government. We've seen it through robodebt. I'm actually going to move an amendment to this. I move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House notes the Coalition Government's failure to adequately address the challenges facing farmers and its mishandling of the debts of recipients of government support payments".

We want to make sure that the government does the right thing by all of those that owe debts to the government. They need to be transparent about those debts and they need to be transparent about whether they're robodebts or farm household debts. They need to be absolutely clear and they need to treat people the same regardless of the type of payment that they're on when they're dealing with debts owed to the Commonwealth.

What we saw with robodebt was a complete disgrace by this government. Those opposite knew those debts were illegal, and they did nothing about it until it was taken to court. The government should have responded to it. For literally years we have been talking about the terrible impact it has had on people. This government has also known that its complicated assessment for the farm household allowance has been a problem for years. It has already waived some debts from 2014-15, but this bill goes back and waives all the debts from 2015 up until the new system came in, on 1 July 2020. We will be supporting that, but we have some concerns, generally, about the way this government is supporting farmers.

It's not just through the payments and the systems that they're letting farmers down; it's also through the workforce. We know there's a labour shortage, and we've heard in recent days about this ag visa that the government say they will create.

Opposition Member:

An opposition member interjecting—

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, another thought bubble from the government! They promised this three years ago and of course have done nothing about it. Now we hear that it might be in place by Christmas. But how do you get workers here when the borders are closed because the government has done nothing about quarantine and has completely bungled the vaccine rollout? How are we going to get workers from overseas into this country when that is the issue? You absolutely cannot do that. These workers are not going to turn up for years; that's the bottom line. So what is the government doing in the meantime in terms of workforce on farms to help out our farmers in regional Australia?

We also know that this government has not been doing enough about biosecurity, which I talked about in the biosecurity bill debate yesterday, and we know they're not doing enough in relation to the mouse plague. There's been absolutely nothing from this government to respond to the mouse plague, which is affecting four Australian states. It is estimated that it will inflict a billion dollars of damage, and yet they still do nothing over there—

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I call the minister.

David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The speaker should address her comments to the bill.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I moved an amendment and I'm addressing that.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member is in order. The member for Franklin will resume.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I will conclude my remarks there.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the amendment seconded? I call the honourable member for Kingsford Smith.

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for the Republic) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the amendment and reserve my right to speak.

David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to rise to support this government bill, the Farm Household Support Amendment (Debt Waiver) Bill 2021, in its original form. The bill provides for the waiver of certain classes of farm debt, and it's a reflection of the government's support for the agriculture sector in this country. A significant proportion of the Australian economy is agriculture. It was once said that we are a nation founded on the sheep's back, and agriculture continues to be an extraordinarily important part of our economy right across this country. This government will always back Australian farmers every step of the way. That is reflected in the fact that so many Australians from farming communities support this government and elect members of this government to this chamber to represent the interests of agricultural communities. That is something that we are deeply committed to.

As a nation, we should be very proud of our agriculture sector and of the tremendous export opportunities that the sector has. With the announcement this week of the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement, we've seen further opportunities for the Australian agriculture industry to market its products to that very large United Kingdom market. It might be sugar in North Queensland, or it might be other consumable products that are manufactured right here in Australia using the very best Australian produce. A whole range of agriculture sectors within this country will benefit from this extremely important free trade agreement with the United Kingdom. It's something that we as a nation have been seeking to put in place for some decades after the previous retreat of the United Kingdom from a similar arrangement in the 1970s.

It's just another manifestation of this government's deep commitment to the agriculture sector. We will always stand up for farmers. This bill, providing as it does for the waiver of debts in certain circumstances, is another example of that. This government can always be relied upon to stand up for our agriculture sector.

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour. The member will have leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed.