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

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

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 demonstrate 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.

The bill sends a very clear message. This behaviour is not a joke. It is not funny. It is a serious criminal offence which we denounce, and offenders will face serious consequences.

Contamination of goods

It is already illegal to intentionally contaminate goods with the intention of causing public alarm or anxiety, widespread or nationally significant economic loss, or 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 recent events 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 will 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 as to causing public alarm or anxiety, economic loss, or harm to public health.

These offences will attract a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.

Sabotage

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 our national security.

Further action

The bill marks an important step towards ensuring that our food supply infrastructure is afforded the same protection as other pieces of our critical infrastructure.

This work must continue. I will raise the issue with my state and territory counterparts and encourage them to strengthen their laws to ensure a robust, nationally consistent approach to the protection of our food supply.

It is important to remember the human toll this is having on Australian farmers, and indeed a whole range of participants in the agricultural sector, who are already doing it tough. Helping our farmers and farming communities is this government's number one priority, and we have committed $1 million to deal with this crisis and help get the industry back on its feet.

Conclusion

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 livelihoods of growers, communities, towns and whole regions. They frighten people away from enjoying the beautiful, fresh, healthy produce our farmer's grow. This Bill demonstrates that the Government will not stand for it.

It is the first duty of every Government is to keep its people safe, and we are committed to doing so.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As all Australians would be aware, since 13 September this year there have been a number of confirmed cases of people finding needless in strawberries. While the initial reporting concerned Berry Licious and Berry Obsession strawberries from Queensland, police and health authorities have warned of copycat cases across Australia.

On 19 September, it was reported by the AAP that Australia's strawberry contamination scare has now spread across six states. The Home Affairs minister said on Wednesday that there were up to 100 reported cases, although many of these were believed to be hoaxes. In response to these and other stories of needles being found in fruit, some supermarkets have pulled their strawberries from their shelves. We know that our farmers are suffering and we are reaching a critical point where lasting damage to the industry could be done. This is a completely unacceptable situation and is having a devastating impact on strawberry farmers.

The Morrison government has responded by making some changes to Commonwealth laws that it hopes will assist in deterring and prosecuting the individuals who have engaged in these recklessly destructive behaviours. According to a search of the Commonwealth Sentencing Database conducted by the Parliamentary Library on 19 September, there are no cases recorded against any of the existing offences in part 9.6 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code which deal with food contamination. Those offences were first introduced in 2004. While we have not had time to ascertain the reasons for this, it may be that the authorities have not used the existing Commonwealth offence provisions because of the existence of equivalent state and territory criminal offences in relation to the contamination of food. Those state and territory offences have a broader application than the equivalent Commonwealth offences due to the constitutional limitations on the Commonwealth's legislative powers. Those people who have caused the current crisis should face the full force of the law. What they have done is a despicable act with far-reaching consequences. I would urge all members in this place, when they leave Canberra today and tomorrow, to support the Australian farmers by buying a few punnets of strawberries at home and sticking it up on social media. Things like this matter.

I would like to note that the opposition has been asked to consider and agree to this legislation in an extraordinarily short period of time. It's highly unusual for amendments to be made, in particular to our Criminal Code, without any consultation at all. We do not want to set this as a precedent for future legislation. On this occasion, we recognise the gravity of the situation at hand. Labor will be supporting the bill.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Greens utterly condemn any tampering with food in a dangerous way in our country, as we have seen recently around strawberries. We regard that kind of action as completely unacceptable. As such, we are very open to supporting reasonable legislative change to do what we can to ensure a strong legislative framework in this area. But, let's face it, to describe the Criminal Code Amendment (Food Contamination) Bill 2018 as a rushed job would be an understatement.

I want to acknowledge the officers of the Attorney-General's Department who briefed Mr Bandt and me on this bill this morning. I thank them for the time they provided to us and for the professional way they engaged with us. However, it needs to be on the record that this bill has been subject to no consultation whatsoever. It has not and will not be subject to any kind of parliamentary inquiry. As Senator Farrell has just said, it is most unusual for amendments to the Criminal Code to be made in such a short time frame. We have concerns about potential unintended consequences of this legislation, and we haven't had time to do the consultation that we need to do with our stakeholders and with people who we seek advice from with regard to legislation such as this. This leaves us in a very difficult position.

On balance, we've determined not to support this legislation at this stage, simply because the government has not provided enough time for us to conduct consultations or for the normal inquiry processes of the Senate to take place. We regret that that has occurred. We want to, and do, strongly support our primary producers, including, in this case, strawberry farmers. We understand the impacts that the events of the last few days have had on them. However, due to our concern about the indecent haste with which the government is proceeding and due to the lack of opportunity for us to consult and for the Senate to do the job it would normally be able to do on legislation such as this, we are not in a position to support the bill at this stage.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Small and Family Business) Share this | Link to 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.