Pat Farmer (Macarthur, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, Science and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Blaxland for his enlightening comments and for raising a couple of issues, which I am more than happy to answer as I sum up the Customs Legislation Amendment (Augmenting Offshore Powers and Other Measures) Bill 2006. I also thank members, both government and opposition, who have spoken on the bill.

This is an important bill and, as the member for Blaxland, who is sitting opposite, quite rightly pointed out, it is all about protecting our officers in the field and making sure that we have the best possible security system available in Australia to deal with people who tend to bend the rules a little, whether it involves illegal fishing boats or whether it is an immigration matter, such as someone trying to get into the country by false means.

Can I assure the member opposite, in relation to one of the concerns that he raised about weapons and the availability to search for weapons under the provisions in the bill, that this is covered by the legislation. I will enlighten him a little more on that as I read through the bill. The other point that he made—which is a sensible point—was about whether we were looking at machinery to replace Customs officers. Certainly not. The equipment will speed up the process and make it more convenient for people entering Australia. It will also improve reliability because, as an extra piece of equipment, it will be an extra asset available to Customs officers.

The member for Blaxland also quite rightly asked: ‘If there are problems and discrepancies, will they be subject to further investigation by Customs officers?’ This equipment is all about trying to streamline the system, and anybody who has ever come into this country after being abroad will know and understand how vitally important that is. It is important that Australia leads the world as far as Customs is concerned.

The bill proposes amendments to the Customs Act 1901 in relation to existing powers of search and seizure available to officers in the offshore maritime environment and to limiting circumstances relating to aircraft. The amendment powers will apply to ships being boarded by Customs, such as those suspected of illegal or foreign fishing. Recent escalations in the level of resistance by crews toward Customs officers boarding ships suspected of contraventions of the act or other prescribed acts have threatened the safety of officers and created a situation where evidence of possible offences may be destroyed. As the member opposite mentioned, evidence could easily be thrown overboard or ‘lost’ prior to boarding or during boarding by Customs. The proposed amendments deal with these circumstances, and that is why the amendments are desired.

The Customs Legislation Amendment (Augmenting Offshore Powers and Other Measures) Bill 2006 contains amendments to the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Legislation Amendment and Repeal (International Trade Modernisation) Act 2001 that relate to border enforcement powers under the Customs Act, customs brokers’ employment arrangements, duty recovery and payments of duty under protest, and false and misleading statements made under the new SmartGate system.

The bill empowers Customs officers and other Commonwealth officers immediately upon boarding a ship or aircraft for various border enforcement purposes under the Customs Act, the Criminal Code and any relevantly prescribed act to conduct personal searches for, take possession of and retain weapons or items that might be used to assist a person to escape detention and to dispose of evidence of the commission of a relevant offence. The new powers ensure the personal safety of officers in exercising their enforcement functions. They also help to prevent the escape of any person detained as a suspect and help to prevent the disposal of evidence. This bill will also make amendments to other provisions relating to search powers under the Customs Act, which the member opposite referred to earlier.

To recognise the changing employment practices in the customs brokers’ community, the bill will remove the current restrictions in the Customs Act prohibiting individual customs brokers from being employed by more than one customs brokerage at the same time. The bill amends the Customs Act to limit the time for recovery of customs duty to four years in all cases except those of fraud or evasion, where no limit will apply. The proposed new regime is a response to the decision of the High Court in the Malika Holdings Pty Ltd v Stretton (2001) 204 CLRL 290 and is consistent with the existing regime for the recovery of other indirect taxes.

The bill will also clarify the process for making payment of customs duty under protest. Further, the bill will amend the Customs Act to enable the CEO, in certain circumstances, to offset an amount of unpaid duty on goods against any amount of refund or rebate that the owner would be eligible for if the owner were to pay the duty.

Customs will be introducing the electronic SmartGate passenger processing system in early 2007. This will allow eligible airline passengers and crew to use the automated clearance process through the immigration point at the border. This bill will amend the Customs Act to ensure that any false or misleading information provided under the SmartGate system will be covered by the existing offences provision relating to making false or misleading statements to an officer of Customs.

I once again thank all members for speaking on the bill. It is a sensible bill and will improve services and security for all the travelling Australian public. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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