Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Customs Tariff Amendment Bill (Incorporation of Proposals) Bill (No. 1) 2026. The coalition will support the passage of this bill. This is, in broad terms, a technical but practical piece of legislation. It amends the Customs Tariff Act 1995 to incorporate into the act a number of tariff changes that have already been given effect in the parliament through Customs tariff proposals. That is a well-established mechanism in customs law. Tariff changes are often initiated through Customs tariff proposals before being incorporated into the act through subsequent amending legislation. It allows changes to take effect promptly while still ensuring that the parliament has the opportunity to consider and legislate for them.

The bill contains two central measures. The first is the removal of a further 497 so-called nuisance tariffs from 1 July 2026. This follows the first tranche of nuisance tariff removals in 2024, when 457 tariffs were abolished by having their existing rate of duty reset to 'free'. The second is the extension of duty-free treatment for most Ukrainian goods for a further two years to 3 July 2028, and an accompanying extension to 24 October 2027 of the extra 35 per cent Customs duty on goods from Russia and Belarus.

In addition to the nuisance tariff measures, the coalition supports sensible tariff simplification where it reduces unnecessary compliance costs and does not undermine Australian industry. Low-yield tariffs that generate little revenue, provide little or no meaningful protection, and impose disproportionate administrative costs are difficult to justify. In many cases, these tariffs apply to goods that already enter Australia duty-free under free trade agreements or other concession arrangements. That means Australian businesses can still be required to spend time and money navigating paperwork, classification issues or concession arrangements even where the practical value of the tariff is limited. That is not good policy. Australian businesses should not be forced to carry unnecessary compliance burdens where those burdens serve no meaningful economic purpose. Importers, Customs brokers and border agencies should not be made to amend resources dealing with low-yield tariffs that provide little benefit. Where a tariff raises little revenue, does not serve a meaningful industry policy purpose and simply creates unnecessary work, it should indeed be subject to abolition or repeal. That is the basic principle behind this aspect of the bill, and the coalition supports this principle.

We also note that the 2024 Treasury consultation process on these kinds of changes attracted support from major business groups, including the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a range of other stakeholders also pointed to benefits including lower red tape, consumer benefits, active transport, energy transition, health, and cost-of-living considerations in a general sense. However, the coalition's support for tariff simplification does not mean that every concern raised through that process should be dismissed. Some domestic manufacturing and industry stakeholders identified concerns about the potential impact of tariff removal on local manufacturing, sovereign capability, circular economy outcomes, domestic processing, emerging advanced manufacturing, specialised production and fair competition. These concerns do not justify blocking this bill in its entirety, but they do mean that the government should be clearer than it has been to date about how the final list of nuisance tariffs was chosen, what sectoral modelling was undertaken and how potential impacts on domestic industry were assessed.

The government should also provide more detailed information about the financial impact of these measures. This the bill is intended to produce compliance savings for business and administrative efficiencies for government, and that is welcome, but there remains limited public detail about the overall revenue impact, the sectors most exposed to the changes, and the expected value of the compliance savings for importers and Customs brokers. The government should provide that information. It should also be cautious about overstating any cost-of-living benefits. Tariff removal may reduce costs at the import or wholesale level; however, it is not guaranteed that every saving will flow through to consumers at the checkout. Those are not reasons to halt the passage of the bill through the House, but, to us, they make obvious that there is cause for better clarity to be provided about what this legislation will and will not achieve.

Australian businesses continue to face very significant pressures under the Albanese government, including enormous energy and labour costs, complex regulation and weak productivity growth. Removing nuisance tariffs may help at the margins, but it does not address the deeper economic pressures that are being felt by businesses and households across the country, and it should not be lost on Australians that any benefits from this bill will be completely dwarfed by the tax increases that will hit millions of Australians as a result of Labor's atrocious budget. The Albanese government is seeking to force through tax increases that will hit millions of Australians, and the coalition opposes them. We will scrap Labor's toxic taxes and deliver substantially larger tax cuts for every income earner.

In relation to the Ukraine measure in the bill, the coalition strongly supports the extension of duty-free treatment for most Ukrainian goods. This measure was first established by the former coalition government in 2022, following Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. It was part of Australia's broader response to that invasion, and it was intended to support Ukraine's economy and help maintain Ukraine's participation in international trade at a time of extraordinary national crisis. Australia's support for Ukraine has been bipartisan and should remain bipartisan, and the continuation of tariff relief for Ukrainian goods is both practical and symbolic. It is a practical contribution to Ukraine's economic resilience, which is so important to their overall war effort, and it is also a symbolic demonstration that Australia continues to stand with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. The measure is appropriately targeted. Excise equivalent goods, including certain alcohol, fuel, tobacco and petroleum products remain outside the general benefit of the concession. For those reasons, the coalition supports this aspect of the bill as well.

In essence, this bill is largely technical, but it gives effect to sensible objectives. It simplifies aspects of Australia's tariff system, removes low yield nuisance tariffs, reduces unnecessary compliance burdens and extends Australia's tariff relief for Ukraine. The coalition will therefore support the passage of the bill through the House. However, we say that the government should also better account for the detail behind it, particularly in relation to any recent consultation; the treatment of domestic industry concerns, especially in relation to advanced manufacturing; and the accuracy of any claims around the overall economic benefits. With that, I thank the House.

Debate adjourned.