Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

I thank senators for their contribution to the debate on the Criminal Code Amendment (Food Contamination) Bill 2018. This bill urgently addresses significant gaps in Australia's current contamination laws. The bill tackles distressing recent events relating to the tampering of strawberries in Australia that have posed a risk to the safety of the Australian community and the livelihood of significant parts of our agriculture sector. It is a strong and necessary response to circumstances which demand nothing less. Families need to have the assurance that the Australian produce that they are buying is safe for their kids, safe for themselves and safe for their loved ones. Australian farmers need our support to ensure that their livelihoods are not put at further risk.

As you are aware, we have not relied solely upon legislation in response to this challenge. The government has also committed $1 million to make more food safety officials urgently available to increase detection, fast-track recalls and assist the strawberry industry to rebuild confidence. It is essential that we in this place act quickly and decisively—and that is exactly what the government is doing—to ensure our criminal laws are appropriately adapted to the threats that we face. This bill reflects the absolute commitment of this government to do all that it can to keep Australians safe as they go about their everyday lives. The Criminal Code Amendment (Food Contamination) Bill 2018 strengthens penalties for existing offences and amends the nation's sabotage offences to deal with acts of food supply contamination that pose a risk to the safety of the Australian community.

The consequences we have witnessed from the contamination of strawberries demonstrates the public anxiety, economic loss and real-world harm that a rogue actor can cause. This harm has been amplified by copycat offenders and the perpetrators of hoaxes. This bill sends a very clear message: this behaviour is not a joke and it is not funny; it is a serious criminal offence which we denounce, and offenders will face serious consequences. It is already illegal to intentionally contaminate goods with the intention of causing public alarm or anxiety, of widespread or a nationally significant economic loss or of harm to public health. It is also a crime to threaten to contaminate goods or make false statements about the contamination of goods for one of those purposes.

However, recent events have demonstrated that the existing maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment is not high enough. The bill will address this by increasing the maximum penalty to 15 years imprisonment. This will send a strong signal to would-be offenders by placing the penalty at an equivalent level to child pornography and funding a terrorist organisation. There is a real risk that the recent event will inspire hoaxes and copycat offenders. These people need to know that, if they engage in this conduct, they will be committing a crime. The bill would create new offences that apply where a person contaminates goods, threatens to contaminate goods or makes false statements about the contamination of goods and is reckless to causing public alarm or anxiety, economic loss or harm to public health. These offences will attract a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

The government recently modernised Australia's sabotage laws to address the unprecedented threats that we now face. These threats are constantly evolving and our laws must keep pace. These laws currently apply to the sabotage of public infrastructure and carry maximum penalties of between seven and 25 years imprisonment. Australia's food supply infrastructure is of critical importance to our national security and the wellbeing of our citizens. The bill will expand the sabotage offences so that they would cover the sabotage of Australia's food supply where such conduct is intended to prejudice national security. The bill marks an important step towards ensuring that our food supply infrastructure is afforded the same protection as other pieces of critical infrastructure. This work must continue. The issue will be raised with the state and territory counterparts to encourage them to strengthen their laws to ensure a robust, nationally consistent approach to the protection of food supply. It is also important to remember the human toll that these events are now having on Australian farmers and, indeed, a whole range of participants in the agricultural sector, who, as we know, are already doing it tough. Helping our farmers and farming communities is this government's No. 1 priority. As I've already stated, we have committed $1 million to deal with this crisis and help get the industry back on its feet.

The events of this week represent large-scale criminality relating to food products in Australia. Strong action is required to deter and punish those who would target our food supply infrastructure. Their actions hurt the Australian community. They sabotage the livelihood of growers, communities, towns and whole regions, and let us not forget the impact on small and family businesses. Their actions frighten people away from enjoying the beautiful, fresh, healthy produce that our farmers grow.

This bill demonstrates that the government will not stand for this type of behaviour. It is the first duty of every government to keep its people safe, and this government is committed to doing this. With that, I commend the bill to the chamber.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.