David Littleproud Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture
3:09 pm
My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Can the minister advise why the government will introduce a biosecurity tax on Australian farmers to pay for their international competitors to bring their products into Australia? Why wouldn't the government make foreign importers pay?
Ms Catherine King Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
3:10 pm
I'm asked why the government is introducing the measure that's in the budget. I will tell you why: it's because of a decade of failure of the National Party to put biosecurity funding on a secure footing. The failed National Party literally did not fund biosecurity properly.
David Littleproud Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture
It's called a tax.
Milton Dick Speaker
The Leader of the Nationals will cease interjecting immediately.
Ms Catherine King Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
In this budget we are investing more than $1 billion in new funding for biosecurity over four years from 1 July 2023. We know how important that is for our farmers. We also know that biosecurity is a shared responsibility. That $1 billion of new funding over four years will help with our biosecurity operations, our digital systems and Indigenous rangers. From 1 July that system is shared: it is shared by taxpayers, who are putting in the bulk of funding; it's shared by importers, who, in fact, are putting in 48 per cent of the $1 billion of funding; and—
David Littleproud Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture
No, they're not. You let them off.
Milton Dick Speaker
If the Leader of the Nationals interjects one more time, he will leave.
Ms Catherine King Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
also a small amount by producers, who we know are the major beneficiaries of making sure our biosecurity system is safe.
We have had to do this because those opposite failed to put our biosecurity system on a sustainable footing. When those opposite were last in government they failed to invest in permanent ongoing biosecurity funding for the long term. We have had to fix that and clean up your mess. You failed to implement the biosecurity imports levy—you claimed that it would raise $325 million, but it raised zero dollars. You failed to protect taxpayers by maintaining cost recovery with a system not touched since 2015 because you would not take the hard decisions to put this on a secure footing. You failed to manage the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, leaving that department with a $120 million black hole. That is what you did. You were so concerned about the farmers and the producers in this country that you didn't put biosecurity on a sustainable footing.
Ms Catherine King Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
You didn't make the investments you needed to to make sure that we had funding for the department of agriculture and fisheries. This government continues to protect and grow the agriculture sector. We continue to grow our trade sector for our agriculture and to build the economic resilience that we know our producers absolutely need.
Honourable members interjecting—
Milton Dick Speaker
The House will come to order so that I can hear from the member for Fremantle.