Andrew Murray (WA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

These four bills are being dealt with cognately. Like all customs and excise bills, they are difficult to both read and use. They deal with a variety of matters related to excise and customs. Parts of these four bills directly relate back to the proposals in the white paper, Securing Australia’s Energy Future, that proposed among other things a fuel tax credit scheme to replace the Energy Grants Credits Scheme. These four bills are interlinked in some aspects with the Fuel Tax Bill 2006 and its accompanying consequential amendments bill.

The overall Democrat position on these four bills is not significantly affected by our views on the Fuel Tax Bill 2006 to which we are opposed. With respect to all non-fuel aspects of these four bills, the Democrats support them very fully and we support the bill overall. Although I expect they will inevitably fail because the government has not yet, hopefully, accepted low-alcohol wine and low-alcohol RTDs as policy, I will take the opportunity to propose amendments introducing such a regime for RTDs because I know that by doing so it therefore puts a schema in front of the Senate and to the broader community that they are able to consider at their leisure.

This amendment of mine continues previous amendment attempts on the same lines, and I will note for the record that I have been a persistent and consistent advocate, as has my party, for the encouragement of low-alcohol products along the same lines as beer. I am pleased to have noted that the Labor Party is supportive of that approach and I am also very pleased to record that the Liberals on the committee led by the chair, Senator George Brandis, are also of the same opinion.

My colleague and party leader Senator Allison will be dealing with the changes to the excise on fuel and its impact on the fledgling biofuels industry in debate on the Fuel Tax Bill 2006. All I will say is that it is very disappointing that the government has seen fit to disadvantage biofuels, which are just getting started and which could hold a key to help secure Australia’s energy future.

I will briefly outline the four bills dealing first with the Excise Laws Amendment (Fuel Tax Reform and Other Measures) Bill 2006. The purpose of this bill is to amend or repeal several acts to effect the government’s proposals with respect to excise contained in the energy white paper and simplify and update legislative requirements relating to excise. The bill prescribes circumstances where excisable and imported inputs that may be used in excise manufacture will be removed. The prescription ability is retained. Fuel blending will be considered blending unless the resulting blend is carved out as per the Excise Act or the Fuel Tax Bill 2006. Regulations can be made to limit movement permissions granted by the commissioner of tax, where duty has not been paid. All excise licences expire and specific requirements on expiry and renewal dates are provided for. I note the government amendments in that respect, and we support those amendments.

Streamlined rules for measuring the volume, weight or alcoholic strength of an excisable good is in the bill. Anyone who possesses a tobacco leaf can be asked to account for it and pay excise duty as if it had been manufactured into excisable tobacco—a good integrity measure. Bottling of duty paid bulk beer is excise manufacture to prevent lower excise liability applying. The concessional spirit scheme is streamlined to reduce administrative burdens on users of concessional spirits and to protect the revenue. Remissions, rebates and refunds are allowed in prescribed circumstances and regulations may be made for and in relation to the Commissioner of Taxation granting approvals in such circumstances. The recovery of debts under section 60 of the Excise Act is covered by the Tax Administration Act 1953, so it is no longer needed as a section. The tax commissioner can direct licence holders to keep, retain and produce records. The bill adds a definition of renewable diesel to mean liquid fuel manufactured from vegetable oil or animal fats by a process of hydrogenation. In noting that point, I recall the somewhat macabre and humorous remark of Senator Bartlett on another bill where he said, ‘They are now replacing a tiger in your tank with a cow in your fuel.’ The bill repeals provisions and certain acts which are redundant or inconsistent with best practice regulation.

Moving to the second bill, the Excise Tariff Amendment (Fuel Tax Reform and Other Measures) Bill 2006, the purpose of the bill is to repeal the current excise tariff and replace it with a new one. The new law impacts in the following areas: the excise tariff is streamlined, incorporating a simpler two-tier numbering system, replacing a complex numbering system and disaggregations often based on the prospective use of the product as the basis for the classification; concessional rates of excise duty for burner fuels and free rates of duty for fuels used otherwise than as fuel are no longer available; duty-free treatment for products for use by certain parties is no longer delivered by free rates in the excise tariff; fuel from various non-petroleum sources is captured by the excise tariff—all fuels which can be used in an internal combustion engine should be subject to fuel tax, so the excise tariff captures liquid fuels irrespective of their production, method or feedstock—and a certain product which is recycled for own use is excluded; the tobacco rate will apply to all tobacco products not in stick form, including snuff tobacco—another good integrity and health measure; and certain definitions are clarified and redundant definitions and indexation provisions are omitted. These definitions relate to alcohol and fuel.

The third bill is the Customs Amendment (Fuel Tax Reform and Other Measures) Bill 2006. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Customs Act 1901 to strengthen Customs control over certain imported goods that are used in the manufacture of excisable goods, to repeal the customs related provisions of the fuel penalty surcharge legislation and to replicate certain provisions of the Spirits Act 1906, which is to be repealed, as opposed to—what do priests do? I am trying to remember the word for what priests do with people whose heads spin around.