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

He will sing his own praises—I am sure I wouldn't do justice for him!

What is interesting here is that it was a unanimous decision of the committee. It was a decision of crossbenchers, of the coalition and of the opposition to support this law. They actually said that we should just get on with it. The committee recommended that, with the bill being passed into law, the Commonwealth encourage the states and territories to comply with and enforce the revised standard.

This bill does not deal with that. It is something I have had discussions on with the Deputy Prime Minister, with the relevant minister and with Minister Nash. And I have been very disappointed that it has not been advanced. So, that is another reform that needs to be brought about.

With those comments, I support this bill, but I urge my colleagues to seriously consider the amendment for greater transparency every six months—which would not carry an unreasonable administrative burden—to get a commitment from the government to actually advance this, because if it does not then I think you will find that consumers will still feel that they are not getting the information they deserve. That is why this bill is so important, particularly in the context of Australians wanting to know what they are eating and where it comes from and also in the context of the impact it has on Australian jobs and our food processing sector and on Australian agriculture.

I move the second reading amendment standing in my name, which I foreshadowed in relation to the issue of standards and getting appropriate rulings from an administrative mechanism for food manufacturers:

At the end of the motion add:

", but the Senate calls on the Government to undertake an analysis of the benefits of establishing an administrative mechanism to give manufacturers the ability to apply for a ruling on Country of Origin Labelling claims."