Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak on and strongly oppose the Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies Bill 2024. I want to begin by acknowledging my coalition colleagues who are here to support me. We support each other and we certainly support our communities. The members for Riverina and Casey are from great agricultural electorates and areas that produce tremendous produce.

I also want to acknowledge the presence here in the chamber tonight of Mr Colin Bettles, the CEO of Grain Producers Australia. The reason why Mr Bettles is an important player in this game is that he represents much of the Australian grain industry.

In my electorate of O'Connor we produce about 70 per cent of the Western Australian grain crop. In 2023, that crop fell to about 13 million tonnes. The previous year it was 23 million tonnes. So we produce a very large part of the Western Australian and Australian grain crop, but my electorate of O'Connor also produces a lot of other wonderful produce. I will come to that later.

This legislation is some of the most egregious I have seen come forward in this parliament in terms of the process being proposed and the impact it will have on my community. Firstly, the notion that the farmers should pay this biosecurity levy, not the creators of the risk—that is, the people who are importing product into this country—is extraordinary. There is a view, I think, amongst the government members that, because Australia has such a good track record with biosecurity—and we are one of the cleanest and greenest countries in the world—the farmers are the ones that benefit from that. Yes, they do, but let me tell you, as a farmer: if, for example, a strain of rust comes in and I can no longer grow a particular plant, then I will grow a different plant. But the person who will suffer is the consumer, who will pay more for that particular product. This notion that farmers should pay so that we continue to produce the cleanest, greenest and, for many, the most cost-competitive agricultural products in the world is an absolute nonsense.

The coalition policy, quite rightly, is that the creators of the risk—the importers, the people who bring in product in containers—are the people who should pay for biosecurity to continue to protect our country from many of the exotic diseases that we currently don't have. I completely support that policy. Hopefully, when we return to government in a little over 12 months time we will be able to implement that policy and, if this very egregious legislation passes, put it to rights.

I came up earlier to listen to the member for Ryan from the Greens party. She seemed to indicate that the Greens are not going to support this legislation in the Senate, which is very interesting given that the Labor Party and the Greens are usually in lock step on many of these issues. But even the Greens can see what a terrible piece of legislation this is. The member for Ryan certainly indicated that the Greens were supporting the container import levy, and that shows an unusual degree of common sense from them.

As I said earlier, my electorate covers an enormous area of the Wheatbelt, but it also has some of the best horticultural country in Australia. Within that, in the Southern Forests, in the Manjimup area, there is a little piece of paradise called Channybearup, which is in amongst the karri forests, with rainfall of about 1,000 millimetres. In amongst the 300-foot karri trees, there is some of the most amazing horticulture country that you will see—possibly anywhere in the world, and certainly in Australia. I have received a letter from the owners of Moonlight Forest Avocados, Eugene and Gail Henningheim. I'm going to read from their letter about what the impact of this may be on their family business. Eugene and Gail say:

The policy—which will impact on us and our business and nearly all of Australia's 80,000 producers and thousands of supply chain participants—will come into force … on 1 July 2024.

Let's hope that doesn't happen. They continue:

The Australian avocado industry—

which is a very successful and strong industry in that Manjimup-Southern Forests region—

has already invested millions in Australia's biosecurity system and is committed to future funding through biosecurity response plans. This is true of all Australia's producers who already contribute significant amounts to biosecurity activities and pest and disease management, through their existing levies systems, on-farm activities, investments in traceability systems and contributions to state and regional landholder agencies. The Federal Government needs to stop, recognise and quantify this existing financial support BEFORE it puts a new levy/tax burden on farmers.

That is an extremely sensible and pertinent comment to make. They go on to say:

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry was said to say that the Biosecurity Protection Levy was to fund border security, this is the responsibility of the Federal Government NOT FARMERS. Risk creators, such as importers, who instigate the introduction of foreign materials into our country are also key stakeholders who should contribute to Australia's border security and the biosecurity system.

Eugene and Gail go on to say:

We, like our fellow farmers, remain disappointed that the proposed Importer Container Levy has not been implemented by the Government. The agricultural and environmental sectors have both supported a broad-based charge on risk creators, importers. The reasons why the Importer Container Levy is not being implemented should be made clear.

It is important to note that representatives of major importers, including the Freight and Trade Alliance (FTA) and Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA), are publicly advocating their willingness to absorb the 'complex proposed levy against producers.' These organisations are just the latest in a chorus of parties concerned about the complexity of the proposed levy and calling for an alternative approach.

Those are some very, very sensible comments and contributions from Eugene and Gail Henningheim of Manjimup.

The legislation that has been put forward doesn't actually specify how the levy is going to be collected or what the mechanism is. This is extraordinary. As previous speakers have mentioned, it's kind of reminiscent of the Voice debate, where the government said: 'We're not going to give you any detail. Just trust us once the legislation is through.' I don't think anybody in this place should be voting for and supporting legislation which doesn't actually specify how this tax is going to be collected. It would be an extraordinary precedent that the parliament would pass a piece of legislation that allows for the collection of a tax without having specified the mechanism for how that tax would be collected.

There are many other speakers on this particular issue, and I'm looking forward to the contribution from the member for Casey. Tonight I simply wanted to get on the record the concerns of my grain producers, as represented here by the CEO of Grain Producers Australia and also by a very heartfelt, very well researched, and well put-together contribution from some avocado growers in the most beautiful part of the most beautiful electorate in Australia.

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