Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Australian farmers, fishers, foresters and producers make an extraordinary contribution to our country. They feed us, they support regional jobs and communities, and they help drive our national economy.

The latest ABARES forecasts show the value of agriculture, fisheries and forestry is expected to reach $110 billion in 2025-26. That reflects the hard work, resilience and skill of Australia's world-class producers.

This bill is part of the Australian government's support for our agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors.

The bill will amend two acts:

The amendments to the Wine Act will enable Wine Australia to conduct or coordinate surveys of the grape industry or wine industry to support the operation of the Wine Act, or the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 in relation to the grape industry or wine industry.

It will also support the government's response to the Review of regulatory options for the wine and grape sector, conducted by Dr Craig Emerson, which recommended stronger transparency in wine grape purchasing arrangements.

The government has agreed to the review's recommendation that winemakers should make earlier, binding offers for each grape variety they seek under contract from the Riverland, Murray Darling and Swan Hill, and Riverina regions, and that those offer prices should be made public.

The measures in the bill relating to the collection and disclosure of certain information will modernise and strengthen the Wine Act, while ensuring that protected information is afforded appropriate safeguards. The bill will, for example, authorise entrusted persons to use and disclose relevant information obtained and collected under the Wine Act to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to support the regulation of the proposed mandatory code of conduct for wine grape purchases as announced by the government.

Without these amendments, the wine sector's ability to respond to industry challenges would be reduced, and the ACCC's ability to identify businesses captured by the mandatory code would be limited.

The government has undertaken broad industry consultation, including engagement with industry bodies to seek feedback on the proposed changes to the wine act.

The amendments to the collection act will enable the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, known as ABARES, to use and disclose personal information, particularly personal information collected via the agricultural levy and charge system for the performance of its functions, including research and data analysis.

ABARES provides independent data, research, analysis and advice that informs public and private decisions affecting Australian agriculture, fisheries and forestry. Since 2025, ABARES has been able to use and disclose certain levy and charge data for the purposes of performing its functions, except personal information.

The changes will allow ABARES to confidentially disclose personal information to third-party providers to assist ABARES in performing its function of conducting critical annual agricultural surveys—that is, ABARES could provide the contact details of survey participants to mailing companies to enable those companies to send survey approach letters and survey materials to the participants on behalf of ABARES.

The changes will strengthen the quality of ABARES's agricultural surveys, improving research outcomes and delivering broader benefits across the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector.

Existing and new safeguards in the act, as well as the department's existing privacy controls, will ensure that personal information is used, disclosed, stored and destroyed appropriately by third parties. The Privacy Act would also continue to apply to personal information handled by the department.

The bill will also make a technical change to the power of the secretary of the department to make disallowable rules so the provisions can operate as intended.

The department has consulted with representatives of levied industries, as well as research and development corporations and other levy and charge recipients, about the changes. These changes will strengthen the agricultural levy and charge system and, by strengthening ABARES's research and analysis capacities, provide lasting benefits to the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector.

These are practical changes. They will strengthen the ability of Wine Australia and ABARES to continue their important research work, support better decisions, and help industry keep building a strong future.

Debate adjourned.