David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

A healthy and strong agriculture sector is absolutely crucial to the health and strength of our nation. With around 70 per cent of Australia's agricultural produce exported, we need to ensure these industries are adequately supported, fit for purpose and operating as efficiently as possible. This is something that the federal coalition takes extremely seriously.

In our nation, the Export Control Act provides the regulatory framework for the export of goods, including a range of agricultural commodities. The legislation before the House—the Export Control Amendment (Streamlining Administrative Processes) Bill 2022—will amend this act to allow better information management, cut administrative red tape and clarify the intent of the act. The bill will allow for the introduction of both civil and criminal penalties, along with the use of infringement notices for any breaches of information sharing. Based on these sensible provisions, the federal coalition will be supporting the passage of this bill.

Australia's export sector relies on the efficient collection and sharing of information, and the amendments in this bill will deliver an enhanced process for this, while also protecting data confidentiality. This is important because, currently, all information obtained or generated by people performing their duty or exercising powers under this act is classified as protected, regardless of whether or not it is commercially sensitive. This means that, when information needs to be shared, it goes through a complex approval process. The provisions in this bill aim to make this process more timely, responsive and efficient with less red tape, which is a commonsense outcome.

It's so important, in a fiercely competitive international marketplace, that vital information in this sector can be appropriately shared with our regulatory partners, exporters and key stakeholders, while preserving safeguards for any information which is potentially sensitive. Examples highlighting the significance of this include the need to provide information quickly to a foreign country on an Australian consignment of grain that is awaiting quarantine clearance; providing export data to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to assist with trade negotiations; using the information to develop improved operating procedures; and harnessing relevant data to support the simplified trade system which is making exports and imports easier through a digital single window system. Significantly, there will be offence provisions introduced which would apply to any instances where protected information is disclosed in an unauthorised way.

It's also worth pointing out that the information-sharing provisions contained in this bill will help bring our agricultural exports into line with the world-leading benchmarks that underpin Australia's biosecurity system. Other amendments in this legislation will streamline administrative processes in relation to variations of approved arrangements, accredited properties, registered establishments and export licences, as well as the consideration of certain information for the purposes of the fit and proper person test, along with some minor technical amendments. Overall this bill consists of practical measures that will have a positive impact on Australia's agricultural export sector. The federal coalition also notes that the National Farmers Federation has expressed its support for the bill.

On this side of the House we will always back Australian agricultural exports, and, under the previous coalition government, our comprehensive plan ensured that this industry remained strong and resilient, as a crucial part of helping the agriculture sector reach $100 billion farm gate output by 2030. In government, we made it easier for business to navigate export systems to get product overseas. We're immensely proud of our track record. Some of those achievements included delivering $328.4 million in congestion-busting measures to slash red tape to get products to export markets faster and providing $85.9 million through our Agri-Business Expansion Initiative to diversify markets. In the first year, the initiative led to $418.9 million in export sales.

We finalised 11 free trade agreements and lifted the share of trade covered by these agreements from 27 per cent under Labor in 2013 to almost 80 per cent, with the inclusion of the UK and India free trade agreements. We actively supported our exporters through the pandemic, through the International Freight Assistance Mechanism. This program supported more than 25,000 flights to 58 international destinations carrying 399,000 tonnes of exports worth more than $4.7 billion. This program alone saved over 150,000 jobs. We launched the Trade Information Service to provide a single source of online information on how to export, including information on regulatory and border requirements. This initiative will save export businesses some 1,370 hours, on average. We appointed a special representative for Australian agriculture, which has advanced our interests overseas.

It's worth recognising that in our last budget the federal coalition also committed an additional $100 million, as part of our Regional Accelerator Program, to go towards the Export Market Development Grants program, which would have helped our small and medium-sized exporters in rural Australia promote their goods in new markets. Disgracefully, in the October 2022 budget, this Labor government decimated the Regional Accelerator Program as part of their cruel cuts to regional and rural Australia. In the interests of our export businesses in the bush, we urge this government to take action and immediately reinstate this funding for such an important initiative, which would help this sector grow into the future.

To conclude, the federal coalition will always work constructively with the government and support practical measures that will help strengthen our agricultural export sector. The provisions outlined in this bill deliver on this front and, therefore, we're pleased to commend it to the House.

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