Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 2) 2020.

In May, I tabled the customs tariff proposal that established concessional tariff treatment and simplified the import process for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of critical medical and hygiene products needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The concessional treatment ended on 31 July 2020.

The Morrison government is committed to ensuring that our communities continue to have access to the essential medical and hygiene equipment needed to treat, diagnose and prevent the spread of coronavirus. As such, the customs tariff proposal that I've just tabled, effective from 1 August 2020, extends this concessional treatment until 31 December 2020, in recognition of the ongoing need for these vital goods. This is achieved by inserting a new concession item, item 57A, into the Customs Tariff Act 1995. This new concessional item operates in the same way as the previous concession. It applies to the same range of goods, including masks, gloves, face shields, gowns, goggles, test kits, certain disinfectants and soap. It applies regardless of where the goods are made. This customs tariff proposal is a targeted and proportionate measure to support Australia's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By extending this concession until 31 December 2020, the government is helping to ensure that Australians can continue to secure supplies of these essential goods.

Can I give a huge thankyou, on behalf of the Australian government and the Australian people, to our medical professionals. In my electorate of La Trobe, I have the Casey Hospital and the St John of God hospital. This message is to all those in the hospital and medical response areas, especially those dealing with suspected and actual COVID-19 cases. You are putting yourself on the front line. We cannot thank you enough. To all our early education and childcare workers: again, thank you so much. And to our law enforcement: you are doing an incredible job on the front line. Again, on behalf of all members of parliament, I thank those health workers. We're very passionate about ensuring that we continue to provide the most support we can through tariffs assistance when it comes to protective equipment for you. Again, on behalf of the public, we thank you so much.

Debate adjourned.