Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Export Control Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2020. This bill is important as it will help modernise Australia's trade environment and ensure our farmers have continued and reliable access to overseas markets. The bill will amend the Export Control Act to make sure that it is fit for purpose. It will streamline and consolidate existing export controls. The bill will make five amendments to the act. Firstly, it will clarify the application of the fit-and-proper-person test to vary a registration of, or to approve an alteration of, an establishment. Secondly, it will enable the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to make rules to enable a notice of intention to export a consignment of prescribed goods to be approved or refused. Thirdly, it will enable the secretary to make rules to prescribe requirements for determining whether to issue an export permit. Fourthly, it will modify how certain provisions apply to reviews of decisions for tariff rate quotas. Finally, it will clarify which instruments may be incorporated into the framework to calculate the tariff rate quotas for goods. Our farmers, producers and agricultural exporters are the lifeblood of our nation, and they must be provided with an environment that is easy to navigate and one that allows them to thrive, particularly in COVID, and hopefully post-COVID, environments.

This bill is particularly important to the Northern Territory, where our two biggest agricultural products, cattle and mangoes, have large export markets. We have a good reputation for high-quality produce. We can't compete on price—Labor and the unions have seen to that. We can't compete on quantity—most countries in the world produce cattle and most countries in the tropics produce mangoes. The only things we can compete on are proximity to markets in the case of cattle and buffalo, which are mostly going to Indonesia and Vietnam, and quality, again, with our cattle, and with our mangoes into Asia and the UAE. It is vitally important to ensure we continue to develop legislation to support these markets.

Labor don't support agriculture and rural Australia. This was evident in 2011 when they recklessly slammed a live export ban on the cattle industry. I can't tell you how devastating this ban was, particularly in the Northern Territory and certainly to my home town of Katherine. Producers overnight had no income. They had no capacity to buy or pay for goods or services. This immediately flowed on to associated industries, such as transport, feed producers, stock and station agents, and veterinary practices. In a small town the flow-on was immediate and severe. Suddenly a large proportion of the town could no longer go to a restaurant or a cafe, could no longer buy something from a retail outlet and could no longer afford to get something fixed on their home or property. It devastated our economy and it did so for many years.

However, we as a government do care and do support our agricultural industries. We must give them all the support and assistance we can and use the levers at our disposal to ensure they have the best possible opportunities to maintain and grow export markets. This bill will reduce some of the red tape and congestion that can be impediments to their trade. The Liberals and Nationals government has announced a sweeping set of reforms and investment in Australia's agricultural export sector to help drive economic recovery in rural, regional and remote Australia and the nation more broadly. The investment is a major drawdown payment on achieving a $100 billion agricultural sector by 2030. It currently stands at $65 billion. It is an ambitious target, but one that's very achievable.

Our investment and reform agenda is an opportunity to reimagine our services from an exporter's perspective. The government wants to get out of the way of business but provide a seamless service experience. By using advanced technology we will significantly transform how the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment delivers its services. In the meantime we will freeze fees and charges.

We are investing $328.4 million in the agricultural exports system, to modernise Australia's training environment and to lead a strong economic recovery. We have provided $222.2 million to transform our export systems, including contributing to a single digital one-stop shop, fast-tracking goods to international markets. We have invested $14.3 million to improve our regulation, particularly for the live animal and seafood industries, to provide greater access for exporters refocusing their businesses into new markets. Live animal exports have remained relatively strong, but we've all heard about the lobster industry and their suffering at the hands of the Chinese market.

The Liberals and Nationals government has also provided $10.9 million to reduce the regulatory burden on meat processors and maintain Australia's status as a leading source of premium animal products. Our friends in the opposite back corner would like to ban live exports today. I'm sure they will rejoice at this announcement, as increased processing will eventually replace live exports. But we are doing much more and have invested $10 million for streamlined plant export services, giving farmers quicker, easier and cheaper access to overseas markets. There is $71.1 million in direct cost savings to exporters, including immediate price freezes, plus $21.4 million in reform-driven fee reductions over four years. These investments are anticipated to return benefits of at least $236 million to the sector as we progress towards the target of a $100 billion agricultural sector by 2030—remember that ambitious but achievable target.

With about two-thirds of Australia's agricultural products being exported, it is vital that we support these exporters and create an environment in which they and Australia, as a whole, benefit, and that is exactly what we have done. We've invested $72.7 million to help Australian agribusinesses expand their export markets as part of the Agri-Business Expansion Initiative. There is $669 million to address air freight shortages and disrupted supply chains for agricultural and fisheries exports through the International Freight Assistance Mechanism, $11.4 million to enhance the international competitiveness and profitability of the horticulture sector, $6.14 million to extend the Package Assisting Small Exporters grant process and $5.1 million to reduce the impact of non-tariff measures by funding industry based analysis. These initiatives build on the $51.3 million commitment under the growing Australian agricultural exports measure from 2018-19 to expand our agricultural exports and seize market access opportunities in global food chains. This includes funding for the overseas agriculture counsellor network and expansion into new locations such as Mexico, Chile and the UK.

As I mentioned, the government has also beefed up its Agri-Business Expansion Initiative, which is a targeted measure being put in place to help Australian farming, forestry and fishing exporters expand and diversify their export markets. We understand only too well how important that is in the face of what's become very apparent to us with regard to the Chinese markets.

As I said, and it's worth repeating because it is such a good initiative, the government is investing $72.7 million to help Australian agribusinesses expand their export markets as part of the Agri-Business Expansion Initiative. This includes $42.9 million to support 2,000 agrifood exporters through the Australian-led accelerate program, providing targeted advice and trade missions to help exporters grow in new and existing markets. We have also invested $18.4 million to extend the Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation Program to develop strategic partnerships with industry to support trade expansion and diversification; $6.8 million to accelerate the negotiation of technical agreements to provide food safety, animal health and biosecurity protocols with trading partners by boosting our scientific and technical capabilities; $3.5 million for three new short-term agricultural counsellors, able to be rapidly deployed to pursue market access priorities with the greatest commercial prospects to complement the work of our existing 22 agricultural counsellors; and $1 million for marketing intelligence and analysis to assist in identifying opportunities for exporters.

This bill is important not just to our farmers and agricultural exporters but to the whole of the country, because if our farmers thrive the rest of the country thrives too. This is a government that is committed to making the right choices to help our farmers and exporters to maintain and grow their markets and contribute to Australia growing a strong and healthy economy. We know that, when our rural industries thrive, when the bush is doing well, the nation as a whole does well. Certainly for the Northern Territory, where export is such a vital part of our agricultural industries, streamlining the process—removing the red tape, making it easier for exporters to do business—is an absolutely vital function of this government. This government, unlike those on the other side, has shown that it cares for rural areas, regional areas, primary producers and exporters. This government will continue to support all those industries now and well into the future. I am very happy to commend this bill to the Senate.