Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Payments) Share this | Hansard source

I begin my contribution by stating that the opposition will be supporting the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Amendment Bill 2016. The bill removes the legislative impediment in the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991 to develop levy payer registers. This will allow all 15 rural research and development corporations, RDCs, to better communicate with their levy payers. Currently, as the act stands, it only permits the distribution of levy payer information to the wool and dairy RDCs.

The opposition also agrees that a one-size-fits-all approach would not be appropriate given the diversity of Australian agricultural industries. The bill allows for the distribution of levy payer information to an RDC to occur only where an RDC, in consultation with industry, requests it, and that request is approved by the minister. The levy payer registers would provide the RDCs with the ability to identify and consult directly with levy payers on research priorities and levy expenditure, and to accurately and efficiently allocate voting entitlements for polls, where this is relevant.

The bill also allows levy payer information to be distributed to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the ABS, to perform any of its functions under the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975. As detailed in the explanatory memorandum, this is consistent with the Australian government's Public data policy statement, which commits to securely share data between Australian government entities to improve efficiencies and to inform policy development and decision making. It is important to note that this bill is enabling legislation and that, for a levy payer register to occur, the RDC, in consultation with industry, would need to agree to the development of the register, and then that request would need to be approved by the minister.

Both the shadow minister for agriculture and the Minister for Agriculture have acknowledged that there have been a number of Senate inquiries that have recommended that the RDCs should know who their levy payers are. In particular, the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee tabled its report in June 2015 recommending that the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991 be amended to enable the collection and distribution of levy payer information which will allow the creation of levy payer databases for all agricultural industries that pay agricultural levies.

Further, it must also be acknowledged that the government actually introduced this bill in the dying days of the 44th Parliament on 3 March 2016, some eight months after the committee tabled its report. The bill was referred to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee on 17 March 2016, and the committee tabled its report in April 2016.

The Senate committee made three recommendations: (1) that the bill be passed; (2) that the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources continue to consult with RDCs and representatives of the agricultural industries as it implements the regulatory and administrative framework associated with the measures contained in the bill; and (3) that the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources tables a response to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee's report, tabled in June 2015, of the inquiry into the industry structures and systems governing the imposition and distribution of marketing and research and development levies in the agriculture sector.

The report acknowledged concerns by various submitters about how the implementation of the regulatory and administrative framework associated with the measures contained in the bill would actually work, especially with regard to sharing information with third parties. More information was requested about how the information about levy payers might be shared by peak industry bodies and councils, the degree of consultation required by RDCs, and the method by which levy payer information would be collected. The department advised that it is working closely with RDCs and industry representative bodies to develop detailed guidance so that the agricultural industry would have explicit guidance on how the levy payer database can be used, how the data should be stored and the protections that should be in place. The opposition believes that the government should have put forward draft guidelines for the parliament to consider while debating this bill, as it is important that levy payers are confident that their private information will be securely stored and are provided with information about how the data will be used.

Further concerns were also raised about the ability for the secretary to authorise disclosure of levy payer information to third parties, particularly to peak industry bodies. The submitters feared that levy payer information may be used by peak industry bodies for the purpose of conducting political campaigns. For example, FLAGS Australia expressed concern that peak industry bodies could misuse the levy payer register for this purpose. United Stockowners of Australia expressed similar concerns, specifically about the Cattle Council of Australia.

The committee were told that the bill sets out the purposes for which an eligible recipient would be able to use the database, and this includes a clause that it cannot be used for political purposes. However, without draft guidelines or regulations, it is difficult to reassure concerned levy payers that their information will not be misused.

All of us in this place can provide examples of database information being misused, and, once this information is shared and possibly misused for political purposes, it will be just about impossible to undo the damage. Further, concerns were expressed about the absence of penalties if the information were misused.

Voice of Horticulture and others sought further information about the costs of establishing the levy payer register database. The department noted that each RDC would need to consider the potential benefits against the significant investment that would be required. There is no obligation for RDCs to create a database. The bill only offers the RDCs the opportunity to create a levy payer register. This of course raises the issue of conflict of interest if the RDC and industry bodies are at odds as to whether the database should be created. Further, there are no details as to whether the costs will be the responsibility of the RDC or whether industry could assist with the associated costs. Once again, had the government put forward draft framework guidelines these unanswered questions could have been addressed. I will acknowledge that the government finally responded to the June 2015 committee report in May 2016—almost one year on.

As I initially stated, the opposition do see value in allowing the RDCs to create a levy payer register database if they choose to do so and we are supportive of this legislation. However, we are critical of the government's lack of detail regarding the implementation of the regulatory and administrative framework associated with the measures contained in this bill.

Rather than further delaying this bill due to the go-slow nature of the government, the shadow minister for agriculture has written to the minister for agriculture asking him to ensure that draft guidelines are put forward for consideration by the opposition, minor parties, Independents, industry groups and individual levy payers, so that we can ensure confidence is maintained in our world class levy payer rural research and development system.