Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the previous speakers on the Customs Legislation Amendment (Controlled Trials and Other Measures) Bill 2022. I think the member for Sturt gave a really interesting contribution. I know he comes from a state where exports are a critical part of the local economy, in particular in relation to food and produce. The points he makes are really valid. We do face really significant issues around non-trade barriers in our dealings with other countries. We have furious debates in this parliament and around the world about trade agreements, but often it's the things that are not in those agreements that are used to inhibit our great exporters in this country selling their goods to the world. It's a really important point that I'm glad he has raised in this debate.

I caught part of the contribution of the shadow minister for home affairs. If you strip out some of the political rhetoric from it, I think the shadow minister made some really good points. I would hope that as a parliament we have our fierce disagreements about various things, but making sure that basic functions like our customs and border control work for Australians and Australian businesses is an area where we don't have to fight. I'm really glad we've got strong bipartisan support for the direction the government is taking, which is the direction that was also supported by the previous government.

In that vein, I will just quickly outline the bill. The Customs Legislation Amendment (Controlled Trials and Other Measures) Bill 2022 will amend the Customs Act 1901. The bill will support the development of new regulatory approaches and business models in customs and trade, with appropriate legislative safeguards. It will also enable the Australian Border Force, in partnership with industry, to test new customs practices and technologies. This bill will create a legislative framework to enable time limited trials with approved entities in a controlled regulatory environment. This bill also modernises Customs law to align with current legislative practice. The amendments will provide more certainty to the process for altering Customs tariffs. The ability to trial innovative regulatory approaches is an essential tool to guide reform initiatives. Running trials through a regulatory sandbox will enable the Australian Border Force to partner with industry to develop the evidence base to inform regulatory reform over the long term.

The controlled trials bill is an important enabler for the whole-of-government simplified trade system agenda. It will assist the government to test new approaches within the Australian Customs framework while maintaining and achieving Australia's border security objective. The bill deserves support, and I commend it to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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