Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies Bill 2024, the Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Charges Bill 2024 and Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies and Charges Collection Bill 2024. For me, these bills aren't just political. They are personal. These bills will hurt my people.

The Albanese Labor government is calling this a biosecurity protection levy. But let's call it for what it is—it's a tax. It is a tax on our hardworking, underappreciated and undersupported farmers, who supply this country with the food and fibre we need to sustain life. It is a tax on the individuals and families who make their livelihoods working the land and who support our economy. It's a tax on the same individuals and families who are being ripped off at every turn—by supply chains, by Mother Nature, by supermarkets and now by the Albanese Labor government. It's also a tax on every single person in Australia struggling through this Labor-created cost-of-living crisis, and the people of Australia have every right to be as appalled at this bill as I am.

On 8 January 2022 the current Prime Minister tweeted this:

Our farmers deserve our respect for providing us with the essentials wherever we live. They need a government that listens to their concerns and acts on them.

Then, on 30 January 2022, the Prime Minister reinforced his support for farmers by tweeting:

We will invest in a future made in Australia—we must make Australia more self-reliant and that starts with ensuring our agricultural sector is thriving.

On 2 January 2024 the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, sent out a media release announcing the ACCC inquiry into supermarket price gouging, which read, 'We want a fair go for families and a fair go for farmers.' Well, I have something to say to the Prime Minister and the Treasurer: if you had any conviction whatsoever, you would not be doing this. For me, as a third-generation farmer, the idea of being forced to pay for my competitors' imports and supply makes me sick to the stomach. What Australian government in its right mind would tax its own food producers, its own farmers, to pay for the biosecurity risks of their international competitors bringing competing products into Australia? No country in the world does this to its farmers and food producers—not one—so why would we?

Those opposite can't even make up their minds on how the policy is going to work. Firstly, they misguidedly but confidently announced, 'We will hit Australian farmers with a bill equivalent to 10 per cent of their existing industry-led agricultural levies.' Those levies, by the way, already collect $500 million a year, which goes towards biosecurity activities as well as research, innovation and development. I'm no mathematician, but I think everyone in this room can figure out that 10 per cent of $500 million a year is an enormous amount of money for an already struggling industry.

Then, in true Albanese Labor government style, they flip-flopped like a fish out of water before announcing they would be rejigging this tax. The Labor government has now announced that it will set the new tax rate as a proportion of an industry's average gross value of production over a three-year period for certain producers. It is estimated to collect around $50 million each year over the next three years, which, by a quick calculation, is the same amount they were proposing to collect from the original model. Isn't that amazing! At the same time, the legislation states that the rate of the levy can be set to nil. In some sectors the cost of collecting the levy actually exceeds the revenue raised by it.

Not only do those opposite have no idea what they're doing with this legislation; their rejigging of this tax has done our farmers no favours at all. Those opposite cannot even tell us who the relevant producers are when it comes to determining who will pay this new tax, or how much. Instead, the legislation only mentions 'certain producers', with the department saying at Senate estimates on 13 February 2024 that they will formally advise industries of their rate in the coming weeks or months. I just want to make sure that I've got this right. This policy is set to come into effect on 1 July this year. The department will advise industries of their rate in coming weeks or months, and we're now in mid-March. We have April, May and June, which is three months. The Albanese Labor government are so generous to the industry that they're going to give a whole three months notice, and, if not, that's too bad.

The arguments for this new tax aren't even sound. Those opposite say that Australian farmers should have to pay the fresh food tax because they benefit from strong biosecurity. The reality is that those opposite are ignoring the fact that our farmers already contribute to biosecurity through their existing industry-led agricultural levies. Those on the other side say that the supermarkets are taking our farmers for a ride. However, those guys are the ones operating the roller-coaster. This is another example of the Albanese Labor government making policy on the run. It's another example of a Labor government who are incompetent and directionless and not across the detail of what they're proposing.

The one thing the Albanese Labor government and the minister have done, though, is they have managed to successfully unite every industry and organisation in their outrage against this policy. The scale of widespread concern about this policy was demonstrated in December last year, when 50 industry organisations cosigned a letter to the Prime Minister expressing their unified opposition and concern about this flawed proposal. Two independent reviews of the biosecurity protection levy, conducted by the Productivity Commission and the Australian National University, have found that the policy is flawed, with major issues surrounding who will be paying this tax. It is expected that it won't just be farmers who will be captured under this levy, but our fishers and our foresters will be too. If this is true, you can almost say goodbye to Australia's world-class fishing industry completely.

Everyone has heard me speak about the decision by the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, to ban the use of commercial gillnet fishing, which will not only destroy an entire industry in my electorate of Dawson but drive down supply of Australian local, wild-caught fish nationwide and ensure that we have to import lesser-quality fish from international suppliers.

The Albanese Labor government now wants these producers to foot the bill for these importers. This is just ridiculous. You couldn't make this up! What about the approximately 1,500 farmers and farm managers in my electorate of Dawson, who would normally employ more than 70,000 people? During a Labor created cost-of-living crisis, when the cost of everything is going through the roof, this policy is going to be more severe and more detrimental and have massive impacts on farmers and families in my electorate.

Farmers are already struggling with increased operational costs. There is a shortage of up to 174,000 workers Australia-wide—thanks to the Albanese Labor government's decision to scrap the dedicated agricultural visa. There are enormous cuts to regional infrastructure and water projects. Then there is the Labor government's reckless race to renewables which will see 28,000 kilometres of transmission lines rip through prime agricultural land, not to mention the thousands of hectares of native bushland and pristine farmland that will be decimated to make way for wind and solar farms. Plus, there's the announcement of a carbon tax on new vehicles, and that could see Australian farmers pay up to $25,000 more for a suitable vehicle, just to do their job. Those opposite want to make these Aussie farmers pay more so that their international competitors can import goods into our country. Who do you think is going to wear those costs? It will be the consumer, who is already being held hostage by a cost-of-living crisis. The consumer is inevitably going to end up paying more at the checkout. Tell me how this is fair.

Under the Albanese Labor government, our farmers have been under siege since the beginning, with every announcement and policy sending shockwaves through the industry, even forcing the National Farmers' Federation to take the extraordinary step of launching its largest protest campaign in almost 40 years. Labor continues to decimate the industry and the regions. These decisions are not good enough, and I cannot in good conscience support these bills as they are here today. I could not go back to my electorate, look at the people in the face and tell them that I am fighting for regional Australia if I support these bills as they stand today.

The federal coalition does not underestimate the importance of biosecurity for our nation. In fact, our experiences and backgrounds mean that most of us understand these risks better than anyone. We also understand the need for a sustainable and commonsense approach, but what we have achieved under this Labor government—what we've seen and received—is proof that they truly have no idea. In contrast to the Albanese Labor government, the federal coalition's approach to sustainably funding Australia's biosecurity system is targeted at the risk creators, and they are the importers themselves. It's quite simple. Those who pose the risk should pay the cost.

As the Leader of the Opposition announced in response to the May 2023 budget, instead of taxing farmers for biosecurity, the federal coalition will introduce an importer container levy as recommended by the Craik biosecurity review. Under the previous coalition government, we were well on our way to implementing this approach. And then the Labor government decided not to continue it. Those opposite will do and say anything to throw a good policy in the bin if it comes from a different side of politics, even if it means destroying our nation's productivity and economy.

The Prime Minister said, 'No-one left behind,' and, 'Everyone gets a fair go'. Where is the fair go for our farmers and their families? Prime Minister, you once said that farmers deserve our respect for providing us with essentials wherever we live and that they need a government that listens to their concerns and acts on them. So where are you? Why aren't you listening? Our farmers are hurting, our families are hurting, our people are hurting and our nation is hurting. It all starts with the primary industries that the Prime Minister and his government are so intent on destroying.

We all know the importance of biosecurity. But the biggest security risk to Australia right now is this current Albanese Labor government. Our farmers are in for the fight of their lives, and if we lose this fight, we all lose. I will stand shoulder to shoulder with our farmers and fight to get rid of this outrageous tax. After all, without farmers, we all starve.

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