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

For those out there listening, the Labor Party support this bill. You would not think it after hearing that from the member for Bendigo. I do not know what it is I have done in a previous life, but it seems I am so often in the chamber listening to the member for Bendigo as I am about to speak. That might be because she is the go to person for agriculture on that side of the chamber—she is, pretty well, the only person on that side. Very few members from rural, regional or remote Australia find themselves ensconced in the federal parliamentary Labor Party. That might have something to do with the recent decision on live exports and their decision to ban that trade when they were in government. A harm, thankfully, we have undone and that you know so well, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott.

I was not going to address her contribution but I have to. It seems to be that the thrust of it was that farmers do not mind levies and that the coalition has no concrete plan for stronger sustainable rural communities. There was the inevitable attack from the member for Bendigo on foreign investment and, then, there was a throwaway line about NBN. I will go to these issues.

I live in a farming family and I have never met a farmer who likes a levy. They tolerate them. I must say, they are not cheering for them. They have not sent me to Canberra to say, 'Tony, the first thing you do is talk to your colleagues about higher levies because that is something we want.' Maybe I need to spend some time in the member for Bendigo's electorate—they might be a different cohort of farmers, but I do not expect that they are.

In terms of a concrete plan for a strong and sustainable rural community, one of the best things this government has done is acknowledge the need to expand markets, globally, and we have done a lot of good work—thanks to the now former Minister for Trade and Investment—in establishing free trade agreements and I will talk to those. There was the inevitable attack on foreign investment. Whilst it is an issue that needs to be debated, in detail, and is a topic for conversation in my electorate, as in hers, I make the point that very many of our processes that underpin the price of commodities in rural Australia are, indeed, products of foreign investment. I would hate to see fewer buyers on the rails because we took a deleterious position with respect to foreign investment.

With respect to the NBN, I am pretty well prepared to back the fact that there are more NBN connections in the member for Bendigo's electorate today than there were in early September 2013. There certainly are in my electorate. Sky Muster will be in the sky, soon to be operative, and there will be fixed wireless towers and other opportunities.

The most deplorable suggestion we heard from the member for Bendigo was, effectively, an attack on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. She was very careful in couching her submission, but I think she needs to quickly go and speak to the leader of opposition business, who was the chief architect of the plan. I want to say to those people listening to this contribution in Barker that this side of the House is committed to ensuring the plan is delivered in full and on time and that no amount of windbagging from the member for Bendigo will change that attitude. I have taken far too long. It is a serious issue and the people of my electorate understand the need for water security.

I support this bill. I welcome any change that supports the dairy producers in my electorate. It will ease the regulatory burden placed on the industry through cutting costly and unnecessary bureaucratic processes. According to information compiled by the Australian Dairy Farmers association, in the last financial year the Australian dairy industry farm-gate value totalled $4.7 billion. In anyone's language that is a whopping sum. That national milk production increased 3.8 per cent. That is 360 million litres to a total of 9.7 billion litres. I think that is more milk than you can fly a rocket over. In any event, the dairy industry continues to be one of Australia's major rural industries. Based on a farm-gate value of production of some $4.7 billion, it ranks third behind beef and wheat.

Reports suggest that over 40,000 people are directly employed in the sector. Related transport distribution activities, and research and development projects, represent further employment associated with the industry.

Dairy is also one of Australia's leading rural industries, in terms of adding value through downstream processing. In my home state of South Australia there were some 252 producers last year who produced some 516 million litres. Many of these world-class farming enterprises in my electorate of Barker are located in the south-east where I also find my home. Barker is particularly important to South Australia's milk production as a significant proportion of the milk produced is exported abroad.

There have in recent times been some significant announcements regarding investment into dairy producers in my electorate. In December last year, Beston Global Food Company announced the reopening of two milk processing factories at Murray Bridge and Jervois, with some 100 associated jobs. Building on this investment in the dairy industry of Barker, Beston announced that it has formed a joint venture with Hong Kong's Sunwah Group to distribute its food into Hong Kong, Macau and southern China. This will serve to increase the demand for Australia's world-class milk from the dairy cows who graze throughout Barker. The coalition government is providing unprecedented opportunity for our agricultural sector through the free trade agreements we have recently signed, along with the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP will provide significant new access for dairy into all 10 of the TPP countries, some of which are the most heavily protected markets in the world. Alongside greater access to Korea, Japan and China, the TPP will foster growth in our dairy exports across our region as the emerging Asian middle class turn to Australia for quality dairy produce.

I welcome this opportunity for producers in my electorate and I know it will have a transformative effect on the industry as it drives a new era of jobs and growth across the Australian dairy industry. Yet it is not enough that we simply open opportunities for our producers; we must also respond to their concerns and remove unnecessary regulation that impedes their growth. Measures in this bill will free up capital in our dairy industry to be used in research and development, which will enable those in the industry to leverage their existing reputation for quality and to grow their businesses. This bill implements a request from the Australian dairy industry to introduce flexibility into the dairy levy poll process. The dairy industry has expressed concern about the regulatory and financial burden associated with holding a dairy levy poll every five years, as required under the Dairy Produce Act 1986. This bill responds to that concern by removing that requirement. The dairy industry estimates that the cost associated with holding a dairy levy poll every five years is up to $1 million—money that would be much better spent either in the hands of hardworking dairy men and women of Australia or in research and development.

The government has absolute confidence that the dairy producers of Australia have the capacity to make the most of the opportunities this government has delivered through the free trade agreements that I have mentioned. The money that is currently wasted in running the dairy levy poll process would be better spent investing in the industry.

Through industry led innovation and development, Australian producers have an unprecedented opportunity to increase productivity, drive new growth and create new jobs. This bill will ensure that a responsible and reasonable approach is taken to the dairy levy. In circumstances where the majority of dairy farmers support the current rate of levy, and where there is no widespread demand for a change in the levy, it makes no sense at all that the dairy industry should be forced to undertake a poll. This bill will require that a dairy levy poll be held only when a change in the rate of the dairy levy is proposed. This will provide the industry with flexibility around the timing of levy polls. The bill will require that Dairy Australia periodically establish an independent poll advisory committee to review the levy rate. The committee will recommend whether there should be a change to the levy or not. The industry have proposed that the poll advisory committee be independently chaired and include representatives of Dairy Australia, dairy farmers as nominated by Australian Dairy Farmers, and a representative of the Australian Dairy Products Federation. If no change to the levy is proposed, there would simply be no poll. If a change to the levy is proposed, a poll of all dairy farmers will be called. If dairy farmers representing 15 per cent of levy payers disagree with the recommendations of the poll advisory committee and request a poll, then a process will be put in place to enable a poll to take place.

This bill delivers a more democratic result to our dairy industry and delivers to them better autonomy. The bill introduces enabling clauses. The detail of the procedures for conducting the poll and forming the poll advisory committee will be in legislative instruments once the bill is passed. There has been extensive industry consultation in the lead-up to the preparation of this bill. In 2014 and 2015, Australian Dairy Farmers, as the peak national dairy farmer representative organisation, and Dairy Australia, the industry services body, undertook an independent review of the dairy levy poll process following the 2012 dairy levy poll. This review recommended the reforms proposed in this bill.

This bill is consistent with the coalition's commitment to cut red tape and unnecessary regulation. Today the coalition is delivering to the Australian dairy industry the autonomy that it has requested and that it needs to remain globally competitive. There are many challenges that face our dairy producers both in my electorate and across the nation. This reform will not solve all of those challenges but it is a step in the right direction to deliver a freer, less restricted industry.

I thank the dairy industry and their peak bodies for their honest and open consultations in this matter. I take this opportunity to thank the dairy men and women in my electorate who get up at the crack of dawn and do very difficult, very hard work—in many parts of my electorate it is very cold work—to supply this globally recognised product to the world. An indulgence: my very first job in life was to work on a dairy farm at Tarpeena. My parents sent me there in my scholastic holidays to work with good family friends of ours. In subsequent discussions with my parents, my father told me he was keen to ensure that I toughened up a little bit. I must say, those early mornings and long days—aside from shedding 15 kilograms one particular summer—taught me something about life, and that is: there is no reward without effort and we must all work hard to achieve our goals. I thank the chamber for that indulgence. This bill ensures that we as legislators are making the right decisions in responding to industry and working for a better agricultural Australia.

I came to this place committed to lower taxes and greater opportunities for constituents throughout Barker. I am glad to say that today I can stand here happy that this bill takes a very small step in that direction. It is a message that I hope my electorate hears loud and clear. I commend this bill to the House.

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