Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

It would be fair to say that the matters around the Wheat Marketing Amendment Bill 2006 have been very well canvassed, so I do not want to go through the reasons the bill should be supported. However, I will briefly deal with one issue that has been raised—that is, the definition of public interest. It is not possible to specify in advance what the relevant matters may be for determining what is in the public interest. That will depend on all the circumstances involved in each industry application that the minister will assess. Some of the issues that the minister may potentially take into account include the interests of growers participating in the national pool as well as the interests of growers in the industry as a whole. We as a government believe that broader considerations need to be taken into account than simply what may be in AWBI’s commercial interests.

In relation to the amendment proposed by Senator O’Brien, I quickly indicate that our view is that the type of review proposed would be time consuming and unnecessary. The government has already committed to extensive consultation with industry, and the minister will be writing to all growers seeking their views. I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.