Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

I thank you for your indulgence, Chair. As someone that also cares about the regions, you want them to have not just great export controls, as this bill outlines, but also fabulous healthcare delivery. On that, I'll return to the bill and look forward to debating this in the chamber more broadly when we return.

I rise to speak on the Export Control Amendment (Streamlining Administrative Processes) Bill 2022 on behalf of the coalition. A healthy, strong agriculture sector is absolutely crucial to the health and strength of our nation. With around 70 per cent of Australia's agricultural produce exported, we need to ensure these industries are adequately supported, fit for purpose and operating as efficiently as possible. This is something the federal coalition takes extremely seriously. In our nation, the Export Control Act provides the regulatory framework for the export of goods, including a range of agricultural commodities. This legislation before the chamber will amend this act to allow better information management, cut administrative red tape and clarify the intent of the act.

The bill will allow for the introduction of both civil and criminal penalties, along with the use of infringement notices for any breaches of information sharing. Based on these sensible provisions, the federal coalition will be supporting the passage of this bill. Australia's export sector relies on the efficient collection and sharing of information and the amendments in this bill will deliver an enhanced process for this, while also protecting data confidentiality. This is important because currently all information obtained or generated by people performing their duty, or exercising powers under this act, is classified as protected, regardless of whether it's actually commercially sensitive or not. This means that when information needs to be shared it goes through a complex approval process. The provisions in this bill aim to make this process more timely, responsive and efficient, with less red tape, which is a commonsense outcome and something the coalition will always support.

It's so important in a fiercely competitive international marketplace that vital information in this sector can be appropriately shared with our regulatory partners, exporters and key stakeholders, while preserving safeguards for any information that is potentially sensitive. Examples highlighting the significance of this include: providing information quickly to a foreign country on an Australian consignment of grain that's awaiting quarantine clearance—and a big-shout out to CBH, who are in the building this week. You don't just make great beer from barley; I highly recommend soju—providing export data to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to assist with trade negotiations; using the information to develop improved operating procedures; and harnessing relevant data to support the simplified trade system, which is making exports and imports easier through the digital single window system, something the previous government invested heavily in and is glad to see this government continuing.

Significantly, there will be offence provisions introduced which would apply to any instances where protected information is disclosed in an unauthorised way. It is also worth pointing out that the information-sharing provisions contained in this bill will help bring our agricultural exports into line with the world-leading benchmarks that underpin our biosecurity system, which is so critical to our clean, green product being accepted, celebrated and desired right across the world. Other amendments in this legislation will streamline administration processes in relation to various approval arrangements, accredited properties, registered establishments and export licences as well as consideration of certain information for the purposes of the fit-and-proper-person test, along with some minor technical amendments.

Overall, this bill consists of practical measures that will have a positive impact on Australia's agricultural export sector. I recognise the work of the many officials of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, who I was privileged to be minister for—I even had my little office down in the building—and who I know have diligently, over several years, been working so hard with our export industry stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve these administrative processes, which has resulted in the bill before the Senate today. So thank you to those public officials for your incredibly hard work and the way you've engaged with our export stakeholders. The federal coalition also notes that the National Farmers Federation has also expressed support for the bill.

On this side of the chamber, we are always going to back Australian agricultural exports as they underpin not only our local rural economies but also, more broadly, our national economy. Under the previous coalition government, our comprehensive plan ensured that this industry remained strong and resilient as a crucial part of helping the agriculture sector to achieve its goal of reaching $100 billion of farm gate—