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

Came from a farm! I'm happy to admit that I didn't work on the farm much, but I got out there on school holidays to wrap the strawberries, back when we did it manually, and I still remember burning myself. But I do say with all sincerity that, while I do not have the hands of a farmer, I've got the heart of a farmer because I've spent my life watching my uncle, my cousins and my family struggle with some of the challenges in farming. We wouldn't be here today without farming and without agriculture. I wouldn't be making this speech today without farming and without agriculture.

There are many great lessons I learned from my Uncle Sam, but there are a couple in particular that stay with me when we're talking about levies. He was the president of the Victorian Strawberry Growers Association and president of the national strawberry growers association for decades. When I got into this role, he went, 'Never forget that those levies are not government money; they're farmers' money. Never forget that it's farmers' money when you talk about those levies.' That's something I'll never forget.

I also remember Christmas Day 2011, when his crop was destroyed by hail. The strawberries were wiped out. Our community was destroyed by that hail. He sat down and ate his Christmas lunch while my cousins were a little bit stressed, and he said, 'Well, what are you going to do? That's farming. We can't control the weather.' But that's why bills like these are so abhorrent. Farmers can't control the weather. They can't control if their crop gets destroyed by hail or by flooding or by any other disaster. But we can control the inputs and the impost that we put on farmers. This is putting an unacceptable impost on farmers.

We all know the importance of biosecurity for our country and for agriculture. There were many lessons learned through the last few years, and biosecurity importance was one of those. But let's understand the ridiculousness of what the government is asking: it is asking farmers to pay money—to incur a cost—to support their competitors. This government is asking Australian farmers to pay more money, at a time when the costs of growing their produce are as high as they have ever been, to bring more competition into the country and bring their sales down. It makes no sense at all. As one small example, I was talking to a strawberry farmer in my community about two weeks ago. The labour costs on his produce are 60 per cent, before he can think of anything else, and this government wants to add another charge to that. But, to make it even more ridiculous, this levy is not going to be charged on profits; it's going to be charged on revenue, which shows no understanding of the cost base, the profits or the loss that farmers go through.

There are close to 100 strawberry farms within Victoria. However, the majority of the farms, 75 per cent, are located within my community of the Yarra Valley. I want to add my comments to those of many other speakers who are representing, and have given quotes from, industry today—because it is clear this government has ignored industry. I'm going to read a few quotes from Berries Australia. They described it as 'unfair' and a 'poorly conceived levy'. They said, 'The so-called biosecurity protection levy should be called out for what it is: a tax on farmers.'

Berries Australia Executive Director Rachel Mackenzie said: 'Berries Australia, along with more than 90 other industry associations, provided submissions vigorously opposing the levy and the proposed mechanism to base contributions on the existing levy system. Not a single submission supported the proposal, but the government is going ahead regardless.' She continued, saying: 'They are now basing the contributions on industry GVP, which disproportionately impacts horticulture, as our crops are high value but also high cost. Very rough initial figures put the contribution of strawberries and blueberries at the $300,000 a year mark and the rubus industry at $150,000 per year.' Continuing, she said: 'Taxing on turnover, not profit, is ridiculous. Once again, there was no consultation, just a knee-jerk reaction.'

It's clear that this government does not understand farming and agriculture. Wanting to add additional costs at a time when Australians can least afford it just shows how out of touch the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the government are, and how they make the wrong decisions for the Australian people. Let's play out what will happen for farmers in my community at a time when 60 per cent of their costs are for labour; their energy prices are going through the roof; their fuel prices are going through the roof; the price of plastic punnets for berries, as an example, is going through the roof; every input is going up; and they are under pressure from Woolworths and Coles and other supermarkets to bring prices down in the shops.

Logically, a couple of things have to happen. To be sustainable and absorb this levy, the cost needs to be passed on to the consumer; the consumer has to pay more. If the consumer doesn't pay more to absorb this cost, the farmer has to absorb it. That makes many of their crops unprofitable, putting their livelihoods at risk. It's an accumulation of hit after hit to our agriculture communities. They need to be profitable when there's a good yield to cover them for when there's a bad yield or a significant weather event, like hail. They need some buffer to survive. This is not packaged goods; it is not a set-and-forget. This is the problem that we face.

Our industry is under pressure. We need to be honest: our industry is ageing. In my community, many older farmers are retiring and their children are not taking over. That's really sad, but the children are thinking, 'Why would I get in when we're getting hit after hit and the government is continuing to take us for granted?' We need to find better ways. The fact that this government wants to tax farmers, not the importers, who are the risk creators, is outrageous. In no other country would this happen. It again shows that this government is out of touch.

This bill also lacks detail, like many of the government's bills. We don't know how the levy will be collected. We don't know who the affected producers will be. This is the standard formula for this government: 'We'll work it out after we pass the bill.' That's not acceptable for our farmers and for our community. It is another example of the Albanese Labor government making life harder for the Australian people, making it harder to put food on the table for farmers and for the Australian community. It is disappointing that this government is refusing to listen to industry. We have to sit in question time and hear the charade of this government talking about consultation. They haven't consulted with industry, as we've heard from the many examples from speakers on this side. It is disappointing and it is a shame that this government continues to make bad decisions that impact the Australian people.

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