Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome this opportunity to speak on the Rural Research and Development Legislation Amendment Bill 2014. As with many National Party members, I have a strong agricultural constituency that contributes to the productive capacity of Australia and the national wealth of Australia. In my electorate the blueberry industry is making a great contribution to wealth and employment. We have seen this industry go from strength to strength. This industry is employing many Australians and many visitors from overseas, who come to this country on a working holiday and find the blueberry industry an excellent source of employment. They are not only contributing to the productive capacity of the country but providing tourism dollars that will be spent in our local economy.

We have seen some great efforts in relation to blueberry production in my electorate. We have seen many hundreds of people employed in production. We have seen the great local cooperative by the name of Oz Berries going from strength to strength. It has achieved blueberry production growth in the order of 20 per cent per year. Not that long ago—I recall it was in the Howard era—Oz Berries secured a grant to assist them with constructing a packing facility. I am pleased to be able to inform the House that before that facility was completed it was already too small to meet the needs of the cooperative. So strong was the growth in production in blueberries that their packing facility had to be extended by the time it was officially opened. The facility has been progressively extended.

What started off as a private company has been transformed into a cooperative. That cooperative now provides a range of facilities to its members. It provides centralised buying as well as getting goods to market and a whole range of other services. Oz Berries is a credit to our local area. It does great work. It employs many locals and is producing great wealth for our region.

We also have a very large blueberry facility run by the CostaGroup at Corindi. Again they are employing many Australians. They produce high-quality fruit that has an Australia wide and worldwide reputation. They produce not only blueberries; in our local area there has been a move into the production of raspberries, which is also very welcome. It is also a high-value crop. We are seeing very labour-intensive agriculture on those properties enhancing our local wealth.

The Rural Research and Development Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 amends rural research and development legislation to give effect to a 2014 budget measure and to reduce red tape. The bill implements a 2014 budget measure to change the way that the government pays for its membership of international commodity organisations, including those for wine, grains, sugar and cotton. These organisations provide significant benefits to our producers. The amendments to payment arrangements will also encompass Australia's membership of six regional fisheries management organisations that manage migratory fish species. Our membership ensures regional arrangements are in line with domestic arrangements and secures access for Australian industry.

The bill amends the Primary Industries Research and Development Act 1989, the Australian Grape and Wine Authority Act 2013 and the Sugar Research and Development Services Act 2013 to allow the government to recover the cost of the memberships from the Commonwealth funding provided to relevant rural research and development corporations. The amendments will result in a saving to government of around $7 million over the next four years. Red tape will be reduced for a number of research and development corporations. This is in line with the government's commitment to reduce red tape. As a government, we think it is vitally important to reduce red tape so that businesses can act and operate more efficiently. The bill removes the requirement to table certain documents in the parliament. This provides consistency across the corporations, with funding contracts and variations no longer needing to be tabled. In the interest of good governance, the corporations will still produce these reports and make them available to the public or to members as required. Also repealed is the need for an annual coordination meeting for the chairs of statutory research and development corporations. Only five of the 15 corporations remain as statutory bodies. As there are other means to coordinate activities, the bill removes the need for a legislated coordination meeting. These are sensible changes in relation to red tape.

The government is obviously cognisant of the importance of reduced red tape in making business more efficient and more effective. A more efficient business sector can create more jobs. A more efficient business sector can create greater wealth for all Australians. I know that all sectors of Australian business, not only in the field of agriculture, welcome our commitment to the reduction of red tape. We have had oppositions in the past promising time after time to reduce red tape, but when they move from opposition into government they fail to make good on that commitment to reduce red tape. This government has a real commitment to red-tape reduction. This government is reducing red tape in a range of sectors right around the country, and this legislation is just part of that process. They are small changes, admittedly, that are making a difference to business by reducing that burden of red tape and reducing the costs of operating. That is a very important thing: if we can reduce business costs, we will have a more profitable and efficient business sector. The government's red-tape reduction agenda is very much a part of that. As I get around the country and talk to people in business, they are very pleased to see the government's solid commitment to red-tape reduction. They welcome the fact that there is finally progress being made by a government in stripping away those levels of red tape. Red tape creates inefficiency. Red tape creates increased operating costs for businesses, and this government is absolutely committed to reducing that red tape.

Australia's rural industries are innovative and productive, and the government is committed to ensuring their profitability and competitiveness now and into the future. This legislation is part of that commitment, as is our commitment to reducing red tape. We believe that we should be lifting the burden from business. We believe that we should be removing red tape as quickly as possible. We have seen hundreds of millions of dollars saved by business as a result of the government's commitment to red-tape reduction to date. We are having discussions in this session of parliament about the changes to red-tape requirements that are easing the burden on business. It is vitally important that we reduce red tape so that we allow businesses to function more efficiently and more effectively.

In my portfolio area of employment, we have made significant inroads in the reduction of red tape. We have lifted the burden of red tape off employment service providers, allowing them to do what they do best, and that is getting people into a job. When we came to government we inherited an employment services system that was mired in red tape and being prevented from doing what it should be doing. Employment service providers were spending their time filling out forms and complying with government requirements—

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