Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to sign off on this very important bill, the Customs Amendment (Export Controls and Other Measures) Bill 2011, and I thank the opposition for its support, notwithstanding some of the ludicrous comments made by the member for Stirling. It is all very well to speak against something and vote for it, but it does underline somewhat the concerns that have allegedly been raised within the opposition. If, indeed, members have a problem, then clearly they have the capacity to move an amendment or vote against the bill that is before the House. The bill amends the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Depot Licensing Charges Act 1997 to enhance the ability of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service to respond to security concerns in the export cargo environment to provide greater consistency between the licensed depot and warehouse schemes. These amendments strengthen the extent of Customs and Border Protection's control over international export cargo. They will enable Customs and Border Protection to give directions relating to goods in the export environment and to seek additional information in relation to goods intended for export. This bill will improve Customs and Border Protection's ability to deal with goods in licensed depots and warehouses as well as align the procedures and terminology that apply to the two schemes. This includes new provisions for the suspension and cancellation of depot licences. The amendments will also enable the chief executive officer of Customs to apply conditions to depot and warehouse licences to ensure compliance with other Commonwealth laws such as the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 and associated regulations.

The bill will ensure that a depot licence holder who is also a regulated air cargo agent will not be in breach of their depot licence conditions where the operator is required to comply with a direction from the secretary of Infrastructure and Transport. The bill also responds to recommendations made in the Australian National Audit Office report entitled Customs' cargo management re-engineering project by aligning the legislation more closely with the operations of the integrated cargo system for clearance of export goods. Finally, the bill removes the requirement for reporting cargo onboard lost or wrecked ships or aircraft, where a report has already been made, and it will remove some redundant provisions.

This bill responds to some of the problems that have beset Customs over a long period of time. This is an improvement to the way in which we store goods, and indeed it provides better oversight by Customs of such goods—which is important at any time and which I believe is increasingly important, given the potential for threats to this nation at our ports. So it is a good bill, and that is why I said at the outset that the opposition support the bill, notwithstanding some of the comments that have been made. I understand they are comments on the budget. People want to make comments that are extraneous to the bill. They want to talk about matters that do not go to the matter before them.

The reality is that the Customs and Border Protection Service do a remarkable job. As an agency they did a remarkable job under the Howard government and they are doing a remarkable job under this government, working with us in very difficult circumstances. We have an exponential growth in freight and passenger movements in our seaports and airports. We have a series of challenges that Customs have to deal with each and every day, and they do a great job. The fact that we have moved to much better risk-based assessments to examine cargo freight is a good thing, and we should deploy our resources where they are most needed, where potential challenges will arise. That has been happening over the last few years, under this government, with the full cooperation of the agency, and I appreciate the efforts of Customs and, in particular, its chief executive officer, Michael Carmody, for his leadership in this regard.

I commend this bill to the House. It is an important change to the regulation of depot licensing conditions. Again, notwithstanding some of the rhetorical flourishes from the member for Stirling, in the end the opposition know it is a good bill and that is why they support it.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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