Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Animal Health Australia and Plant Health Australia Funding Legislation Amendment Bill 2022. It is of the utmost importance that Australia maintains our food security and protects our agricultural trade. The bill before us harmonises the similar Animal Health Australia and Plant Health Australia acts, ensuring the two acts work together to sustain the agricultural industry in Australia. This bill increases the efficiency of levy structures and spending, and subsequently improves our country's biosecurity response in the face of this threat.

For many years, Australian primary industries—agriculture, fisheries and forestry trade—have asked the federal government for levies to be imposed in their respective industries. It allows industry resources to be pooled and used strategically. If not for levies, large-scale projects could never be considered, and complicated, industry-wide activities protecting all of those in agriculture could never be enacted. These projects are beyond the scope that small and rural enterprises could enact on their own, and the efficient use of levies means that all those in primary industries can not only be protected from biosecurity threats but also avoid significant pest and disease management costs to producers in the long term.

But the imposition of these levies is not enough. They must be improved, restructured and reconsidered to ensure that they remain efficient and beneficial to agriculturalists in Australia. The entire process is coordinated with input from the primary industries, including whether they need a levy, how it will be charged and collected, what the rate is, and when to review the levy. The structure of the levy system is based on cost sharing. Cost sharing between industry and government allows for the strongest possible response to biosecurity risks.

My uncle Sam spent decades as the president of both the Victorian and the national strawberry growers associations. Over the years we've had many conversations about the importance of levies for that industry. However, he always took the time to remind me that we should always remember that it is the farmers' money that is being spent and it must always serve their interests and be spent as efficiently as possible.

Emergency eradication responses are planned and funded for, ensuring that, if an exotic animal disease or plant pest makes its way into Australia, it will be responded to promptly and accurately and it will not destroy our industries. These investments now will mean savings to Australian producers in the future, with significantly fewer disease management costs.

As an example, Australia has eradicated avian influenza three times from our country. With the potential to devastate millions of poultry and even humans, Australia is thankful to have avoided the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain that has occurred in Asia, Africa and Europe since 2003. Past successes are not always an indicator of future successes. We must keep up with the changing landscape of biosecurity. At each and every step we must do everything in our power to minimise risks.

The varroa mite has been detected on Australian honey bees. This mite is responsible for the collapse and death of European honey bee colonies wherever it is present overseas. There is currently a movement control order in place to stop the spread of this. This is just one example of the threats to our country that require government and industry partnership to ensure future success in this field.

Australia is home to many world-class producers, and countries all over the world pay premiums on high-quality Australian produce. This demand exists because we have not only some of the best agricultural environments around but also the best farmers. I experienced firsthand this demand for Australian products when I visited Asia when I was responsible for exports at Yarra Valley Snack Foods. We must always continue to protect the brand equity of this country.

Australia currently exports more agricultural products than it imports, with around 70 per cent of Australia's total agricultural production sent overseas. In 2018-19 the value of Australian agricultural exports was almost $49 billion. We must do all in our power to ensure that Australia remains a global superpower in this industry. Unfortunately, this economic growth would all be in vain if biosecurity threats are allowed into our country. It would be devastating for our bees, our cattle, our citrus and our fruit.

Without proper protections against the dangers that exist, our industries will be significantly damaged. We saw this in Casey, particularly in the Yarra Valley, where phylloxera took hold in vineyards in 2006, defeating biosecurity measures. It impacted the industry significantly then and it still is to this day. It's causing significant economic harm to our industries and wineries in the Yarra Valley. It's so important that we protect all these industries.

Moreover, this bill removes redundancies from the AHA Act relating to honey bees, with the industry no longer paying levies to the body. Consistent with a similar act for plants, the bill will allow emergency plant pest response levies to be used for anything related to plant health and biosecurity activities. This will provide more flexibility to PHA industry members in meeting industry biosecurity needs. This change is consistent with the use of the equivalent levies in the AHA Act. By broadening the range of possible levy expenditure, the plant industry will be able to devote funds to whatever is most pressing and will not be limited by predetermined limitations on expenditure. Plant industries welcome this change as it will give them greater autonomy on allocated expenditure for what is really necessary to protect their industries. Powers will be granted to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to determine that a body is a relevant member of a plant industry, and redundant provisions will be removed that redirect excess levies to research and development.

As a result of these amendments, we will also see minor changes to other legislation merely to facilitate the amendments. Each of these changes will make the animal and plant funding acts more efficient, more effective and fit for purpose, serving our industries and making sure these levies are spent efficiently. Industries will be able to meaningfully contribute to the biosecurity issues at hand, saving themselves from the debilitating further costs if the protections were not to exist.

The recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia has been a reminder to us all of the biosecurity threats that exist and our need to be vigilant in this regard. The Biosecurity Act 2015, introduced by the previous coalition government, has facilitated a thorough response to that threat. Through this, biosecurity officers have directed all travellers from Indonesia, including Bali, to walk over sanitising foot mats, and there have been other measures, including distributing vaccine to Indonesia. I am thankful that the previous coalition government enabled Australia to be prepared in the face of such threats.

My electorate of Casey is very regional. Agriculture is immensely important for us, not just for the economy but for the community and family connections that are generated and, indeed, our identity as a region. The Yarra Valley is world-famous for its established viticulture industry and produces Australia's best wines. More than 50 winery businesses call our region home and annually bring in $8.5 million of gross production.

But wine is not the only agricultural industry we attract. In the 2020-21 fiscal year, Casey produced around $400 million worth of agricultural products, including strawberries, with $54 million of gross production, apples with $45 million, cherries with 18 million, nursery production with $175 million and cut flowers with $29 million. We also produce broccoli, cabbages, lettuce, herbs, capsicum, beans, tomatoes and so much more. For full perspective, there are 1.2 million apple trees in Casey.

My point is simple. We all know the importance of agriculture in Australia. In my electorate, it is even more important. I am glad to see legislation fostering this in the House. This bill serves to protect the industries so important to Australia and especially Casey. I hope this bill is the first step of many towards even stronger measures cementing Australia as a top exporter of produce and meat around the globe. We have the land. We have the talented farmers. We just have to ensure the health of our produce through measures like this going forward. I commend this bill to the House.

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