Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Hotham was right about one thing; I am passionate and will wax lyrical about the contribution that regional electorates like mine make to the national economy. Unfortunately, I am disappointed to indicate to the House I fear that she is wrong about almost everything else. She spoke about rank hypocrisy. This is from the party that gave us a ban on live exports to Indonesia, the party that was so reluctant to enter into free trade agreements that their activity in that space could only be described as glacial. Yet she comes in here, as a member representing a vast area of 75 square kilometres in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and seeks to lecture those of us who represent many hundreds of thousands of square kilometres—as you do, Mr Deputy Speaker, and as I do—about what people want to see in the bush.

I will tell you one thing about farmers—and I am not telling you anything you do not know, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I am certainly not telling my family anything they would not tell me—a farmer knows one thing for sure: a farmer knows you cannot live beyond your means. If you spend more this year than you earn in revenues in the highly commoditised market, you are one step closer to the bank or some other entity taking control of the farm over which you have had stewardship. I wonder how much we could allocate to research and development year on year if we were not as a nation spending a billion a month—in interest only—near on $800 million of which is being paid to entities overseas.

We are here to talk about the Rural Research and Development Legislation Amendment Bill 2014. It makes amendments to the rural research and development legislation, which will give effect to the budget measures of 2014-15. It will also make some additional governance amendments. Why are we making these changes? We are making them because we arrived in September 2013 and, when we checked the cupboards, we found they were bare. Against that background, we have had to make some difficult decisions.

Obviously I need to stress to the House the importance of rural research and development to the economy's security and how high a priority it is for this government. I wish to note the work in recent days of the Minister for Agriculture, who announced six new appointments to the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, and the reappointment of Dr Len Stephens from South Australia as Managing Director of the Seafood Cooperative Research Centre, which, as you know, Mr Deputy Speaker, is crucial to the aquaculture industry in my electorate. This gives me the opportunity to shout out to the crayfishermen of the southern coast.

I also note the release of the green paper into agricultural competitiveness which will in turn lead to the development of the commensurate white paper—the Minister for Agriculture has emphasised the importance of increasing farm gate returns. This process is inherently linked to Australia's economic security, research and development and the continued maintenance of our reputation as a quality producer.

Agriculture was once the bedrock of the Australian community, and now as we head to the 21st century we must build on the lessons and practices of the past, both good and bad, to keep our farm sector competitive and to cement our global brand. The farm sector will drive economic growth in new ways going forward, not simply in the traditional fields of fruit, vegetables and livestock, but in other areas—such as education, water management, intellectual property, financial services, advanced manufacturing, science, human resources, management practices and biotechnology to name just a few.

Mr Deputy Speaker, you will recall that in this, our first budget, we proposed $100 billion of additional funding for research and development, specifically to support continued innovation in agriculture, fisheries and the forestry sector. Our government recognises the strong link between research and development and agricultural productivity growth, and recognises that it is a key driver for industry productivity and farm gate profitability. This research will focus on delivering cutting edge technologies with an emphasis on making research accessible to farmers on property. Research must be practical and support our farmers and producers.

As you have heard—and no doubt will continue to hear throughout this debate—the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences estimates that, for every dollar a government invests in agriculture research and development, farmers can expect a $12 return within 10 years. In a tight fiscal environment, the fact the government has allocated substantial additional funding demonstrates how important research and development is to the future of rural industries. It demonstrates the link between innovation competitiveness, profitability and sustainability, as well as natural resource management.

The budget measure referred to in this legislation allows government to recover the costs of membership fees to international commodity organisations and regional fisheries management organisations from the matching amounts paid to rural research and development corporations, or what have come to be known as RDCs. The additional measures remove the requirement for the minister to organise an annual coordination meeting for the chairs of the statutory RDCs and removes some parliamentary tabling requirements to reduce regulation. This of course gives me an opportunity to mention that this Wednesday in this place will be the second of our repeal days which focus on repealing unnecessary and unwanted red tape in the interests of the nation's economy.

The RDCs were established in 1989 by the Primary Industries Research and Development Act to undertake scientific research for the benefit of Australian rural industries, with benefits flowing to rural communities and the nation more broadly. There are currently 15 RDCs; five of these are statutory RDCs governed by that act; and 10 are industry owned RDCs which were created from former statutory RDCs. Most RDCs are able to undertake marketing activities in addition to their research and development activities at the request, of course, of relevant industries.

Most of the RDCs are primarily funded by statutory levies on primary production or products. The statutory levies for research and development are matched by Commonwealth funding up to a cap. The funds raised through the statutory levies are appropriated to the RDCs, less the cost of the levy's collection. The government provides matching funding to the RDCs based on their expenditure on eligible research and development activities. The RDCs are required to submit invoices to the Department for Agriculture to claim matching funding; matching funding provided to each RDC is subject to a cap based on the relevant industry's gross value of production.

Funding for the fisheries RDC operates differently in some respects. The fisheries RDC receives funding from state and territory governments as well as from levies. The caps on Commonwealth funding are based on gross value of production but are calculated differently to those of other RDCs. The Department of Agriculture currently pays for Australian government membership to international commodity organisations and regional fisheries management organisations. These organisations work to improve the trading environment for agricultural products by funding and coordinating research and development, providing information and statistics, setting international standards and ensuring ongoing access to fisheries.

Australia's membership of these organisations benefits the industries concerned. The international commodity organisations deliver good industry outcomes, such as trading standards, research on global issues and market statistics. The regional fisheries management organisations facilitate the management of migration restock and high seas stock that are fished by various nations. They inform international fisheries management stock assessments. And what ought to be noted at this juncture is the recently-announced position for those fish under Commonwealth management in this country, that we no longer have any that are subject to overfishing. That is a great fillip for that industry and a great example of this R&D in practical application.

In 2014-15 the budget measure changed the way that the government will fund the membership costs. From 2014-15 the government will cover the costs of the memberships from the matching funding it contributes to relevant RDCs that coordinate research for the industry which benefits most from the membership. The membership costs will be recovered by either deducting an equivalent amount from the matching funding paid to RDCs or by requiring the relevant RDC to pay the Commonwealth an amount equal to the membership fee. The Department of Agriculture will continue to be responsible for Australia's membership of the relevant organisations and for the payment of membership fees.

The bill amends the act with respect to the Sugar Research and Development Services Act 2013, the Australian Grape and Wine Authority Act 2013 to allow the government to recover the costs of membership fees. Currently, the Australian government is a member of four international commodity organisations relating to the sugar, wine, grain and cotton industries and six regional fisheries management organisations. The organisations and RDCs from which membership fees will be recovered will be specified by a new legislative instrument.

The rural R&D legislation currently contains different requirements for the preparation and tabling of certain corporate documents. Some acts require RDCs to produce certain corporate documents and, in some cases, to table them in the parliament. For consistency across industry owned RDCs the government has decided that tabling requirements are an unnecessary administrative burden for the RDCs and for the government and therefore they will be removed.

The following legislation is amended to remove tabling requirements: the Dairy Produce Act 1986—I am sure the dairy producers of Barker will be pleased to hear that; the Forestry Marketing and Research and Development Services Act 2007—and with such a significant forest industry in my electorate, centred around the south-east, again, they will be pleased to hear that, and I should take this opportunity to mention the establishment for the first time in this place of the Parliamentary Friends of Forestry and Forest Products; the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997—again, highly relevant to the electors of Barker, given the amount of meat and livestock that we produce; and the Sugar Research and Development Services Act 2013. The RDCs will still be required to produce the relevant documents and, where required, make them publicly available.

The PIRD Act requires the minister to organise an annual coordination meeting for the chairs of the statutory RDCs. Only five of the 15 RDCs are statutory bodies and the government has decided, as I have said previously, other coordinated mechanisms to be more appropriate.

I indicated at the beginning of my contribution that Australia has relied upon the agricultural and farming sectors to provide for her prosperity. We know that this will continue to be the case for many decades. The changes brought about by this legislation will help to sustain our competitive edge in the agricultural sector into the future. I commend the bill to the House.

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