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

I move:

That General Business Notice of Motion No. 785 relating to the discharge of the Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies Bill 2024 and related bills be called on immediately and be determined without amendment.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That—

(a) the Senate notes that:

(i) the Albanese Government has presided over a period of record-high cost-of-living pressures,

(ii) the Biosecurity Protection Levy proposed by the Albanese Government is a new tax on Australian farmers and would force them to pay for the biosecurity risks of their international competitors to import products into Australia,

(iii) Australian farmers already contribute significantly to biosecurity measures through their existing industry-led agricultural levies and by measures that they undertake on their properties,

(iv) under the Albanese Government the price of food has risen by 12% and this new tax on agriculture would ultimately lead to higher grocery prices, and

(v) since being received by the Senate, the Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies Bill 2024 and related bills have been left on the Notice Paper without any debate for more than 320 days;

(b) the Senate calls on the Albanese Government to abandon its plan to impose additional biosecurity levies and charges on Australian agriculture; and

(c) the government business order of the day relating to the Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies Bill 2024 and related bills be discharged from the Notice Paper.