Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Customs Amendment (Immediate Destruction of Illicit Tobacco) Bill 2019 and move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House is of the opinion that the Government, by failing to bring forward the appropriate legislation in a timely manner, has undermined the bill’s objective of significantly reducing the operational burden on Australian Border Force of implementing the illicit tobacco reforms".

As members of this House will recall, the government announced in the 2018-19 budget that it would tighten tobacco border controls as part of the black economy package. A range of bills relating to the black economy package were passed during the previous parliament. As a result of that package of bills, tobacco importers are now required to pay customs duty on tobacco products upon importing them into Australia. In other words, there is no longer an option to import tobacco products and hold them in a licensed warehouse to defer the payment of duties.

From 1 July 2019, tobacco products became prohibited imports, and tobacco products can only be imported into Australia with a valid import permit. Tobacco products imported without a valid permit will be seized at the border. To ensure that efficient border operations can continue under these arrangements, additional amendments to the Customs Act are proposed in the bill currently before the House. The Customs Act currently requires seized prohibited imports to be stored for a minimum of 30 days before they can be disposed of. Managing tobacco products as a prohibited import will result in a demonstrable increase in work at the border that may impact the government's ability to effectively regulate tobacco permit conditions and other border operations. So this bill seeks to remedy that and allow for the timely destruction of seized tobacco. In fact, in the last parliament, this very same bill's explanatory memorandum stated that this bill:

… would empower the Comptroller-General of Customs to cause tobacco products seized as prohibited imports—

from 1 July 2019—

to be dealt with in a manner he or she considers appropriate, including the immediate destruction of the goods.

The explanatory memorandum also said that the bill would:

… significantly reduce the operational burden of implementing the illicit tobacco reforms.

Labor supports this bill. We support the effective disruption of illicit tobacco supply chains and efforts to deny criminal groups access to illicit profits that fund other criminal and black economy activities. And we support the important work of our border protection personnel. But it should not go unremarked by this House that we are well past 1 July and only now is the parliament dealing with legislation to allow the Comptroller-General of Customs to do their job effectively.

As I've said in the past, this is a government that finds itself completely surprised to be sitting where it is, and with no real idea what it's going to do. It's a government without an agenda and without a vision. And here we are today with another example of the government asleep at the wheel. Instead of ensuring that the necessary legislation was in place to reduce the operational burden on Australian Border Force from changes to illicit tobacco arrangements, the government dropped the ball. Instead of ensuring that this legislation was passed expeditiously by the previous parliament, the government let the bill lapse. Those opposite appear to have forgotten that the fundamentals of government are not about winning elections, not about scare campaigns and not about endless spin; the fundamentals are about actually governing, and that means competent management of basic legislative tasks—basic tasks that seem to be beyond this government.

What confidence can Australians have that this government is looking out for their interests when it seems incapable of managing these most basic tasks? While the government is asleep at the wheel, Australians are facing very real challenges: the cost of essentials is skyrocketing, electricity prices are increasing, child care has become unaffordable, working families are struggling and parts of this great country are living through the worst drought on record. And all of this is happening at a time when our economy is facing significant challenges, yet this government doesn't have a genuine plan to protect jobs, to stimulate the economy and to promote economic growth. It doesn't seem to understand that people are worried about their wages and their job security, and it doesn't even appear capable of effectively managing basic legislation through the parliament.

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