Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am so pleased to rise this evening to speak on the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment (Dairy Produce) Bill 2014. It will amend the primary industries levies act to increase the maximum rates of the Australian animal health council levies on dairy produce. It will amend the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Act 1999 to enable the dairy industry to continue to meet its obligations in relation to its Animal Health Australia annual membership and other animal health and welfare initiatives. The levies are payable by the producer of the relevant dairy produce and are collected by the Commonwealth for disbursement to Animal Health Australia. Australian Dairy Farmers Ltd, as the national representative body for the dairy industry, has requested the amendments. Australian Dairy Farmers Ltd is also party to the emergency animal disease response agreement, so this bill will allow the dairy industry to meet requirements of being a signatory to that agreement, including the ability to meet its obligations in the event of an emergency response and where a nationally costed share response has been agreed.

This bill gives me the opportunity to highlight the importance of the dairy industry in Tasmania, and more particularly Braddon. I enjoyed the contributions of both the member for Hume and the member for Calare, and I look forward to the contribution shortly of my colleague from Lyons, whose also shares a passion for the dairy industry in Tasmania. It not only gives me the opportunity to get excited about future prospects for the industry, but to also warn of the challenges that are being faced. The dairy industry is the largest agricultural sector in Tasmania: 1,500 people are employed on farms and over 3,000 are employed in the industry; 160,385 cows—I am not sure when that count took place, but maybe this afternoon—on 437 farms produce around 770 million litres of milk. Dairying accounts for about 38 per cent of all agricultural gross products, second only to the salmon sector. But when downstream products including confectionery are included, the dairy industry is in fact the largest agriculture sector—valued at more than $1 billion. My electorate in north-west Tasmania and King Island is the largest dairying region in Tasmania, with more than 54 per cent of the total number of farms and about 58 per cent of the cows. My region employs about 800 people in the industry; 145 farms and 67,523 cows are to be found in one particular region—that is, the Circular Head region. As we say in my electorate, it is the land of milk and honey.

It is an honour to be able to stand here today and declare to all members present, and to those hopefully listening, that your electorates, wherever they are across this great nation, do not do cheese or butter as well as my electorate in Braddon.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER interjecting—

You may cough as you wish, Mr Deputy Speaker Broadbent, but the proof is in the pudding—or should I say that in this case the proof is in the multiple gold and silver medals awarded to north-west Tasmanian producers at the most recent Royal Sydney Cheese and Dairy Produce Show. So I am not making this up!

Honourable members interjecting—

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