Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a person who has her roots in rural New South Wales, and whose husband had his roots in rural New South Wales and attended Hurlstone Agriculture College, and as a person who now has extended family who live and farm within rural New South Wales, I can appreciate the importance of the legislation that we have before us today. The Rural Research and Development Legislation Amendment Bill 2013, the Primary Industries (Customs) Charges Amendment Bill 2013 and the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Bill 2013 are very important pieces of legislation that will amend 10 acts in the agricultural portfolio to improve the efficiency, transparency and accountability of rural research and development corporations, which I will refer to as RDCs during the remaining part of my contribution.

The bill changes arrangements to allow statutory research and development corporations to undertake marketing activities provided that the relevant funding levy in respect of the corporation includes a marketing component. That marketing component is really important. The bill also changes the framework for selection committees to fill board positions for statutory RDCs. The two companion bills allow primary industry charges, fees or duties to be charged without the need to amend legislation. They will enable changes to the rates, charges, fees or duties, providing the industry services body generally, an RDC, or a body declared by the minister, recommends the changes to the minister. It allows primary industry levies to be charged by regulations provided by the industry services body or bodies declared by the minister. That may be a slight worry for me but I am prepared to accept it in relation to the bill as a whole.

I think it is important to note here—obviously the opposition is supporting this legislation—that versions of this bill were first introduced into the parliament on 19 June, prior to the election. The bills passed the House of Representatives but had not passed the Senate prior to the election being called. So the bills lapsed despite the fact that they had been passed by the House of Representatives.

I feel that this legislation is very significant to the primary sector of our economy. It is important that research is undertaken so that primary industry can keep at the forefront, compared to primary industry throughout the world. It is only through research that we can increase productivity and ensure crop security. This legislation will promote research and development—something that is needed not only in primary industry but in all industries.

In the shadow minister's area there is a very strong winemaking industry, and he knows the important role research plays in the ongoing development of that industry—as I think all members on this side of the parliament do. It is only through looking at new methods and new ways to produce within the primary industry that we can actually improve and ensure food security into the future.

The Rural Research and Development Legislation Amendment Bill updates and refines the Australian Research and Development Corporation in line with policy commitments made by the Labor government prior to the last election in the rural research and development policy that we made some years ago. So we really welcome the fact that the now government has picked up on work that has been done over a long time by Labor, because Labor recognises how important rural research is. That was shown in that rural research and development policy statement many years ago. In preparing that policy Labor met and consulted with stakeholders around Australia and took into account many submissions. Consultation continued in the process leading to the legislative amendments that we have before us today.

One thing that we believed strongly in when in government—and that we believe strongly in now—is that you must consult with industry stakeholders and people within various sectors of the community. It is only by extensive consultation that you can develop legislation that will meet the needs of all those stakeholders, that will meet the needs of the sector and that will meet the needs of our economy and lead to a growing and strong economy. In this particular case, primary industry plays a very big role. That is a very important aspect of this legislation.

The bill allows statutory RDCs to carry out marketing activities on behalf of their industry if a marketing levy is in place. Once again, it is all about the development of research and, once that research has developed, being able to market it and being able to develop strong industries. We on this side of the House see that that is a priority and we strongly encourage that to take place.

I also put before the House that there are no changes to levy rates or new levies in these amendments. The amendments will encourage private sector investment in rural R&D by extending to all RDCs the arrangements for government matching funding to voluntary contributions for eligible research and development. I think this is once again a very important component of the legislation. It is imperative that government encourage public sector investment. That means that the government must engage with industry, must engage with the private sector and must not put barriers in place to the private sector's investing in the primary industry sector.

I just look at some of the decisions that have been taken in recent times. The government has said that it is open for business, but if it is open for business it really needs to engage with the private sector and encourage that to invest—to invest particularly in R&D, which will lead to the growth of our private sector.

Statutory funding agreements for statutory RDCs are proposed to guide performance improvements and to increase transparency in the delivery of R&D services. I have always been very committed to ensuring that we have transparency in all areas of government. The consultation that took place under Labor led to the development of legislation that I believe is quite transparent, but in the implementation of that legislation we need to make sure that there is transparency. So it is important that funding agreements—and any agreements that are entered into—are very transparent. Funding agreements have been a flexible mechanism for providing government guidance and oversight to industry owned RDCs, and these amendments will extend the mechanism to statutory RDCs.

The bill changes the process for the selection of statutory RDC board directors to improve transparency and efficiency. Once again, this is very important—there needs to be transparency in the way appointments are made to boards. I would encourage the government to extend that transparency not only to RDC boards but to all boards. Appointments to boards should be based on merit and on the fact that people who are appointed to those boards are actually bringing something to the board that will be beneficial to the industry or the sector. It is imperative that these are not just places where your mates are installed. It is really important that we have boards that have directors who are of a high quality and that this is done in a very transparent way. The amendments promote due consideration of the diversity of that selection process, so once again the selection process, as well as being transparent, will encourage diversity. They aim to ensure that high-quality boards are in place for RDCs, and to reduce the time associated with securing them.

The bill proposes to allow the collection and matching of individual fishery industry levies, subject to a cap based on the gross value of production of that individual fishery. Once again, this is a very important aspect of this legislation. It allows specific fisheries to propose levies to invest in R&D for their industry and to undertake marketing in a similar way to other rural commodities. There has been considerable interest in the fishery industry, in ensuring its sustainability and that we have adequate fishing stocks. I see that investment in R&D in fisheries is very important to ensure the sustainability of that industry.

The burdensome requirements for ministerial approval of statutory RDCs' annual operating plans will be removed and some other minor technical matters will be addressed. The Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Bill 2013 removes the maximum levy rates for research and development and marketing levies on primary products. Once again, this is very important to encourage research and to encourage the growth of our primary sector. The Primary Industries (Customs) Charges Amendment Bill 2013, which is the other of the cognate bills, removes the maximum charge rates for R&D and marketing requirements. Numerical maximum levies and rates will be removed, and rates will be limited to no more than the levies recommended. The changes that will take place to the levies associated with this legislation will, I think, benefit the industry enormously.

In closing I would like to say that I support this legislation and that I emphasise the importance of research and development, and of primary industry and its sustainability into the future. So I recommend this legislation to the House.

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