Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The Auditor-General’s report No. 2 of 2006-07, Performance audit—export certification: Australian Quarantine Inspection Services is an important report that brings to our attention some not insignificant deficiencies in the certification processes applying to Australia’s exports of agricultural and horticultural products. Those exports are worth an estimated $32 billion per year to the Australian economy, and almost two-thirds of those exports must meet the health and quarantine requirements of the countries that import our meat, fish, dairy, grain and other produce. As we know, with the proliferation of free trade agreements and more FTAs being negotiated, Australia’s agricultural exporters will be facing increasingly stiff competition from other countries which also wish to sell their products on the world market. It is essential our export certification processes are the best possible. AQIS’s role in this, according to the report is to:

... provide assurance that approved arrangements are working and requirements are being met.

So it was somewhat disturbing to read in this report, the findings of the Auditor-General. I would like to bring a few of those to your attention, Mr Acting Deputy President. The findings include that there are:

Deficiencies in the quality and availability of guidance information for industry and staff.

The Auditor-General says of the guidance material:

... some was in draft form or out of date. Also, available guidance material for the majority of programmes was not broadly communicated.

With regard to measures intended to ensure that audit quality and reliability are met, the Auditor-General’s report notes:

... the extent to which these measures were used varied between export programmes. This limits management assurance on audit quality and reliability for most programmes.

On management reporting and performance information, the report notes that AQIS’s systems:

... do not allow for the capture and routine reporting of management data on audit progress, nor on results, compliance and corrective action. This limits AQIS’s ability to analyse trends and patterns of non-compliance and associated risks.

Finally, I note that the report said in the area of management of records that there were:

... instances where supporting evidence for audit reports was not well documented.

It is clear from this report—and there are other issues raised in the report that I have not reflected here—that there are systemic problems in the certification of Australia’s exports that need to be addressed by the government. I say ‘systemic’ because it is often too easy to blame AQIS field staff for problems that arise when systems they have to use are inherently faulty or flawed. I note that AQIS employs some 3,000 staff and I am certain that the majority of them are professional, hardworking people dedicated to the significant responsibilities that they are entrusted with. In a previous life, I represented the industrial interests of grain inspectors who worked at South Australian ports during negotiations which saw them transferred from being state public sector employees to employees of AQIS.

As Senator O’Brien said in his comments to the Senate yesterday about this report when it was tabled, the report does not say that the system is in danger of failing; however, it clearly indicates areas that the government urgently needs to address if AQIS is to acquit its charter and retain the confidence of the countries that import our produce and, just as importantly, our growers and exporters. The Labor Party is very concerned to ensure that AQIS can acquit its responsibilities. It was only last month, on 17 August, that the Labor Party moved to have an inquiry undertaken by the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee into the administration of quarantine by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. It was a reference that supported a call from the New South Wales Farmers Association for an inquiry into AQIS. I am used to this government using its numbers to arrogantly dismiss or vote down sensible suggestions from this side of the Senate about inquiries that could be undertaken by Senate committees, but I would have thought that the government would pay some attention to the New South Wales Farmers Association—a not insignificant body. But apparently the government does not care what the New South Wales Farmers Association thinks is important in the area of Australia’s agricultural and horticultural exports.

Interestingly, that proposed reference to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee was opposed by the National Party senators in this place. Despite the support of the New South Wales Farmers Association for an inquiry of this nature and despite the various failures of Australia’s quarantine system, which have been brought to the attention of the Senate, the National Party senators decided not to support the inquiry. The failures of our quarantine system are legendary and include the terrible outbreak of citrus canker at Emerald in Queensland and the subsequent botched investigation of the outbreak by AQIS, and the infamous discovery of Brazilian beef dumped in a Wagga Wagga dump and the associated risks of the potential introduction of foot-and-mouth disease into Australia. Despite those obvious problems and incidents, the Nationals voted against having an inquiry, but we should not be surprised about that because we are used to them kowtowing to their coalition buddies and paying lip-service to the rural and regional constituents who they allegedly represent. We are used to seeing the Nationals being walked all over time and again by their coalition partners.

Now, of course, there is no Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee to refer anything to because the government got rid of committees that were chaired by non-government senators. More to the point, the government has got rid of an opportunity for scrutiny and accountability of Australia’s quarantine system because it got rid of the committee that could actually look at it in depth. You have to hope that the government’s arrogance in getting rid of those forums that provided the perfect opportunity for an in-depth, good look at Australia’s quarantine system does not have a detrimental effect on AQIS, which is already obviously struggling to remit its charter because of systemic problems it has.

I hope the government takes on board the recommendations that are made by the Auditor-General in this report and addresses those systemic problems that have been highlighted in the areas of audit policies and procedures, maintaining and monitoring audit schedules, record keeping and all the other things that the Auditor-General has put forward. The recommendations are clearly set out in the report; there is no excuse for the government not to take them up. From my quick reading of it, I believe it would not even necessarily be a huge budget impediment for the government to ensure that those recommendations are taken up. I guess we will wait and see just how much this government does support the agricultural and horticultural producers of this country who rely on a squeaky clean and best possible system of ensuring that export protocols for our produce are met. I commend the report to the government and I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.