Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The red-meat processor industry has a value of about $15 billion a year and earns nearly $7 billion in export revenue.

Collectively-funded marketing and research and development (R&D) have underpinned this industry’s value to Australia’s economy and enabled it to meet its whole-of-industry commitments as envisaged under the red-meat industry’s memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Since the 1998 red-meat industry restructure, a voluntary contributions system has funded the meat processors’ marketing and research and development programs.

These programs have been managed by the industry’s service company, Australian Meat Processor Corporation Ltd (AMPC).

For the past three years, the industry has been engaged in discussions on the future of this funding arrangement.

As a result, in December 2006 a clear majority ballot conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission voted in favour of replacing the voluntary contributions system with a statutory levy on the slaughter of cattle, sheep and goats.

The processing sector also made it clear that its preference is to continue using the existing service company, AMPC, to administer the levy funds and not Meat and Livestock Australia Ltd (MLA) as provided for in current legislation and the industry MOU.

The other sectors of the red-meat industry also support the preference for AMPC.

The government believes collectively-funded marketing and R&D programs are key to continued industry growth and productivity. Consequently, the government supports the move to a statutory levy and has no objection to AMPC receiving and administering the funds.

A funding agreement will be drawn up between AMPC and the Commonwealth to ensure the funds are managed in accordance with the government’s accountability requirements.

The Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997 makes no provision for a meat processor services body to receive levy funds.

It limits the disbursement of levies and charges to an industry body and a livestock export body, namely, MLA and the Australian Livestock Export Corporation.

Without amendment to the act, the funds would automatically flow to, and be administered by, MLA; contrary to the meat processor preference.

The bill amends the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997 to allow the minister to determine a meat processor marketing body and a meat processor research body and for these bodies to receive revenue derived from statutory levies.

The intention of the act, whereby MLA is the predominant red-meat industry research body and marketing body, remains.

This means the government will continue its dollar-for-dollar matching of payments to the industry research body, that is, to MLA, in respect of industry research expenditure.

As was envisaged by the government under the 1998 restructure, this will preserve the incentive for research services to be provided by the industry research body, while allowing for the meat processor sector to have ownership and control over its own R&D funds.

Under the statutory levy system certain disaggregated levy payer information would not be available to industry as it has been under the voluntary contributions system.

As a separate process, amendments are being proposed to other legislation to allow the information to be disseminated to the red-meat industry.

However, those separate amendments will not make provision for the Commonwealth to control who in the industry can receive statutorily collected levy-payer information or to specify how that information can be used.

Accordingly, this bill makes provision for such a control. The intention is for the dissemination to be limited only to the red-meat industry services companies. The proposed level of control is similar to that already in place for the dairy industry.

The bill does not change the act’s broader intentions of viewing the red-meat industry as one industry and at the same time providing for autonomy and self-determination for the sectors within.

Rather, the bill responds to specific industry needs. It gives effect to changes in the face of clear indications from the meat processor sector that existing arrangements are no longer supported and that the new arrangements will enable the sector to continue to meet its own and whole-of-industry commitments.

I commend the bill to the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Crean) adjourned.

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