Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

r DAVEY (—Deputy Leader of the Nationals and Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate) (): I too rise to take note of the failure of the minister to comply with an order of the Senate and the absolutely pathetic explanation that he has provided as to why and how this happened without a skerrick of contrition on his part.

It is a serious and damning reflection on Australia's minister for agriculture when he fails to support a very important agricultural industry which is keen to grow their markets both domestically and internationally. But, then, when the industry is trying to work with the government and the Senate is trying to work with the government, we are hampered because of the minister's carelessness, disinterest or worse, because the motion today and the reason for calling the minister revolved around a legal technicality of what has or hasn't been tabled. But, when something as glaringly obvious as a letter to industry from the minister, which I hope he's tabled—like my colleague Senator McKenzie, I haven't yet had a chance to see what was just tabled—but I am aware that this letter exists because the industry has told us this letter exists. The industry has now published this letter on their website. When something as glaringly obvious as that didn't make it into the original pack of tabled documents, it begs the question what else is being hidden and it begs the question about the minister's commitment.

I also want to raise the minister's apparent oversight as an assessment of where this industry sits in the minister's order of priorities and the importance that his department places on it, be it by the minister's instruction or just his omission. We're not talking about a little niche industry here; we're talking about an industry that in 2021 contributed over $2 billion to the Australian economy. We're talking about the opportunity for that industry to grow and for that industry to have easier access to overseas markets. To do so they need regulation and accreditation, and this is what the industry has been calling for and working towards.

The global market size of organics is estimated to be worth over US$208 billion, and it is estimated to grow to around US$654 billion by the year 2030. Our lack of domestic regulation in Australia is undermining efforts by that industry to improve market access for organic exporters. Our target markets quite rightly question the equivalence of our organic production systems when there is no domestic organic regulation in place to provide them with some assurance of our market integrity. Only domestic legislation will provide the regulation required to adequately protect organic consumers and producers and provide the assurance needed for improved export market access. Australia will miss out if this Labor government doesn't get off its proverbial and realise it has made a serious error of judgement in putting this important industry on the backburner.

I've been chasing answers for the organics industry through Senate estimates and through my advocacy since I was elected. I was pleased in 2020 when the then minister for agriculture, David Littleproud—someone who didn't ignore the industry—commenced investigating whether the regulatory framework for our organics industry was fit for purpose. Minister Littleproud established an industry working group and, through the process, had the department commission a consultation paper and cost-benefit analysis to be conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The coalition commitment at the time—and it was ongoing, right up until the last election—was that we were working towards implementing a domestic standard through the industry working group. I asked the industry whether that working group had been reconvened since the election and I was told by them, 'No.' I followed this up with questions to the department in November last year, when I asked questions about the PwC report, and the minister's department advised they were considering the findings and would engage across the Public Service and maybe with industry, as needed, in providing advice to government.

Fast forward to March, and I followed up again at estimates and was told, 'We're still waiting.' It was also confirmed to me by the department that the industry working group had not met since the election and had not seen the PricewaterhouseCoopers report or the consultation reports that had been bandied around other bureaucratic agencies. When I asked when something might be coming, I was advised: 'The policy consideration is ongoing. I don't have a time frame I am able to provide to the committee at this point.' That shows to me that Minister Watt does not support an organic standard, which he announced in the media in March this year. Minister Watt's reason relates to the cost-benefit analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers. I'm not sure how much of it we've seen, but I'm advised it is flawed; it was a cost-benefit analysis of only the domestic industry and didn't consider the export potential of the industry.

Minister Watt, I don't understand the lack of conviction or interest in an industry that has the potential for such growth. The industry doesn't understand the disrespect you have shown them. The organics industry has been calling for the implementation of a domestic organic standard for years. I know we're a party that likes to have light-touch regulation, but this is something the industry has been calling for because, with a domestic organic standard, the industry can actually compete in export markets with a regulated and accredited product.

I urge the government to work with industry and sort out issues about cost benefit and other concerns that may have been raised in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report so that industry can grow and prosper. There is an existing industry working group that you can consult with to make sure that you smooth over all of those issues that were, apparently, raised. When we see organics producers not being able to access markets like South Korea because we don't have an equivalent standard that other governments can compare their domestic regimes to to make sure that there's balance, shame on us, particularly when we've got an industry that is so willing to work with the government to ensure that we can do so.

The disrespect the minister has shown by his laissez faire attitude to producing the documents is reflective of his treatment of the industry. I implore him to change his attitude towards the organics industry, change his attitude towards orders of the Senate and start commencing the real work.