Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Australian Postal Corporation Amendment (Quarantine Inspection and Other Measures) Bill 2007. Labor regards this bill as a sensible approach to address legislative anomalies and introduce amendments to the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 for the benefit of the wider community. This bill has been developed in consultation with state and territory governments and Australia Post.

One of the key aims of this legislation is to prevent the spread of pest species between states and territories. The bill will implement recommendations from the 2004 Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee report Turning back the tide: the invasive species challenge and the 2005 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry report Taking control: a national approach to pest animals.

The bill will prevent the spread of pest species between states and territories by providing for the inspection and examination for interstate quarantine purposes of postal articles carried by Australia Post. The bill aims to remove the legislative anomalies that see the prohibition of inspection and examination for quarantine purposes of interstate articles carried by Australia Post, except in certain circumstances, and see Australia Post subject to different inspection regimes from those of other interstate carriers. This is a sensible approach and one which Labor supports.

The bill also allows for the disclosure of scam mail articles to consumer protection agencies to ensure households are protected from scam mail. Labor supports the scam mail provisions of the bill as they address the issue of scam mail and implement the recommendations of the consumer protection agencies, which have been concerned by the increasing amount of scam mail received by households throughout Australia.

Further, the bill introduces amendments to reflect the operation of the GST and the wine equalisation tax or WET. The bill provides that, where an authorised examiner has reasonable grounds to believe that an international mail article may contain an item on which GST or wine tax is payable, they may open that article. This amendment is sensible and ensures an equitable system of taxation and import duties is imposed on all.

The bill also introduces an amendment to ensure that Australia Post may request information from a compliance agency so that it can comply with its obligations under the Universal Postal Convention. I commend the bill to the Senate.