Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Labor will be supporting this bill. As outlined in the EM, the purpose of the bill is to 'waive the repayment of certain classes of debt in relation to the Farm Household Allowance Program, through amendments to the Farm Household Support Act 2014':

The FHA program provides time-limited, means-tested income support to farmers and their partners experiencing financial hardship. Farmers are eligible for the FHA for a maximum of 4 years (recorded as a 1,460 day clock) in every 10 year period (beginning 1 July 2014). The days do not need to be consecutive and can be taken only if, and when needed.

The EM states:

Previously, FHA recipients' income estimate was reconciled annually through a process called business income reconciliation (BIR).

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The BIR determined whether a recipient received a 'top up' payment, no adjustment or incurred a debt. The BIR was removed from the FHS Act with effect from 1 July 2020 as part of a process to simplify the FHA following a 2018 independent review. While the BIR was removed in 2020, some FHA recipients incurred debts from this process between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2020 or have not yet been assessed.

According to the EM:

The Bill would permanently waive the repayment of certain classes of debts for FHA recipients arising from the BIR process for FHA payments between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2020.

The bill would assist farmers suffering financial hardship and eliminate the negative effects of the business income reconciliation process. The EM states:

To enhance fairness it would ensure that an FHA recipient who already has a BIR debt does not also receive the double benefit of having their clock re-credited if they choose to have their debt waived.

As stated in the EM:

The Bill would also provide an end date of 30 June 2023 for FHA recipients to supply their full financial statements for the BIR process. Any FHA recipients who do not provide this information would have their payment for the full financial year raised as a debt …

BIR debts for the 2014-15 financial year were previously waived through a legislative instrument in 2016 … and would not be affected by these amendments.

I want to take this opportunity to put on record the challenges facing farmers in regional communities. The Morrison government's inaction on many of these issues is very concerning. They are big on announcement, but unfortunately there is not a lot on delivery. Last week we had another big announcement, the agriculture workers visa, but not a lot of detail on the delivery. This latest announcement comes three years after the Nationals first said there would be an agriculture visa, so farmers won't be holding their breath for action soon. With Morrison's faltering vaccine rollout and quarantine failures set to keep borders closed for the foreseeable future, it's difficult to see how any new visa will fix the labour shortages crippling Australia's farmers now. The Morrison government must come clean with more details. Any proposed visa cannot mean more shocking exploitation of workers on farms. The Morrison government has a terrible track record on fixing workforce shortages on Australian farms. Mr Morrison is still yet to respond to the recommendations of the National Agriculture Workforce Strategy that were handed to the government in October. Producers have already faced losses of more than $50 million from rotting crops due to workforce shortages on farms. The Morrison government has failed to take responsibility for labour shortages. Farmers just want this fixed.

The Morrison government is also dragging its feet on the challenges farmers face around biosecurity. Further reducing confidence was the recent publication of the Australian National Audit Office audit report on biosecurity. The findings of the ANAO report are scathing and extremely concerning. The ANAO concludes that the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment's arrangements to respond to noncompliance with biosecurity requirements are largely inappropriate. Clearly we do not have a fit-for-purpose biosecurity system. What does this say about the Morrison government's interest in biosecurity risk? The ANAO's findings in relation to the inadequacy of Australia's biosecurity system must be taken seriously. A biosecurity system that is deemed to be inappropriately managed has massive implications for the agriculture sector and it puts Australian farmers in a very vulnerable position, which is totally unacceptable. Incursions of pests and disease are of great concern to farmers, who know the significant risks if and when Australia's biosecurity system fails them. The Morrison government must do better for the agriculture sector when it comes to Australia's biosecurity system.

On top of bushfires, drought, the COVID-19 pandemic and the workforce shortage, we know another crisis that farmers in regional communities have had to face, and that's the mouse plague. The mouse plague is now impacting across multiple states. Is there a national response from the Morrison government? No, there is no national response. Labor's call for a national response plan has been ignored. The New South Wales agriculture minister also wrote to the Morrison government asking it to provide assistance with the mouse plague. The New South Wales minister's request for a national response plan has been ignored. Labor is concerned about the impact the plague is having and will continue to have across Australian farms. NSW Farmers have estimated that the plague has already cost $1 billion in lost winter crops. The Morrison government must do better to help farmers.

In closing: we will keep a close eye on how the Morrison government continues to manage its changes in this legislation and the other concerns I've raised today.