Louise Markus (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Amendment Bill 2016 amends the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991. This bill makes possible the establishment of levy payer registers by RDCs by amending the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991. As it stands, the act only permits the distribution of levy payer information to the wool and dairy RDCs. This bill remedies this by allowing the government to provide levy payer information for the purposes of a levy payer register to the 13 other RDCs. The bill removes the legislative impediment to the development of levy payer registers. However, recognising that a one-size-fits-all approach would not be appropriate given the diversity of Australian agricultural industries, the bill allows the distribution of levy payer information to an RDC to occur only where an RDC, in consultation with industry, requests it and that request is approved by the minister. The department would then work with the RDC on the administrative design and development of a register. This is consistent with the government's approach to the broader R&D levy system, which is centred on industry support.

In the electorate of Macquarie we have apple growers and some significant mushroom growers—one of the largest privately owned mushroom growers is in the electorate of Macquarie—and of course we have other agricultural industries such as winegrowing. Recent reviews and inquiries, including the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee inquiry into industry structures and systems governing the imposition of and disbursement of marketing and research and development levies in the agricultural sector, have identified improved consultation with levy payers as important for the ongoing strength of Australia's rural R&D system. Several of these inquiries recommended levy payer registers as a way for RDCs to consult more effectively with the primary producers who fund them.

The government agrees that levy payers should have more of a say in how their levy funds are spent. RDCs should know who their levy payers are, and levy payer registers would provide RDCs with the ability to identify and consult directly with levy payers on research priorities and levy expenditure, and to accurately and efficiently allocate voting entitlements where relevant. This is certainly important to the producers in my electorate that have spoken to me about their levies and how they are spent. As it currently stands, the legislation does not allow for levy payer information to be distributed by the department to RDCs except in the wool and dairy industries. This bill remedies this by making it possible to provide this information to the other 13 RDCs.

Debate interrupted.

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