Nick Xenophon (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Hansard source

I do want to go through some of these issues. I hope you do not find it tedious, but I think this is important. The Australian Made Campaign Limited raised a number of points. Their submission to the Senate inquiry states:

While we support the changes embodied in the Bill overall, we have ongoing concerns about the lack of objectivity in the key criteria and the absence of definitions of key concepts.

The submission further states:

AMCL has previously expressed our concern that the terms "significant ingredient" and "significant component" continue to be undefined in the legislation. While the ACCC has in the past provided some guidance on the meaning of these terms, our experience has been that businesses continue to struggle with practical application of this test.

…      …   …

AMCL strongly recommends that the Bill provide greater clarity around these key concepts. For example, a "significant ingredient" could be defined as any ingredient excluding preservatives, food processing aids, food colouring, etc. In the absence of a definition within the legislation, extensive guidance is required with examples from a range of industries.

The minister gave a helpful example about ham and brine—and he was making me hungry talking about it!—but I think it is important that we deal with the very reasonable request from the Australian Made Campaign Limited.