Agricultural Livestock (Disease Control Funding) Amendment Bill
Page: 9848
Bill introduced and read a first time.
Second Reading
Mr JOHN WATKINS (Ryde—Minister for Police) [7.40 p.m.], on behalf of Mr David Campbell: I move:
That this bill be now read a second time.
This bill will make important amendments to the Agricultural Livestock (Disease Control Funding) Act 1998, which provides for the collection of funds from industry for the benefit of livestock disease control programs in this State. Honourable members would be aware that agricultural livestock production in New South Wales is valued at over $4.5 billion per annum at the farm gate. The current provisions of the Agricultural Livestock (Disease Control Funding) Act 1998 have been used to provide industry funds to support the National Ovine Johne's Disease Control and Evaluation Program. Most people know this disease as OJD. Since first being detected on the central tablelands in 1980, OJD has become a major issue in the sheep industry, particularly in New South Wales, which has been the most affected.
Unfortunately, OJD has been a very divisive issue for farmers whose sheep have contracted the disease and for those who wish to guard against it. A six-year, $40 million national program was set up to provide a co-ordinated approach to dealing with OJD. Honourable members may know that the National Ovine Johne's Disease Control and Evaluation Program is set to conclude at the end of June 2004, which is next week. There is now an urgent need for a more practical and effective mechanism for the New South Wales sheep industry to collect industry funds to support the new national approach to OJD for the future management of the disease. The State's sheep industry, through the OJD Industry Advisory Committee, has long called for a transaction-based collection scheme to fund the OJD program to make the collection of funds far more equitable. It has also asked for a greater say in both the direction and operation of the disease control program.
The bill provides the mechanism for the collection of these funds and for greater industry consultation on how the funds are utilised. In doing so, it largely reflects suggestions and recommendations from reviews of the current OJD program by the Hon. Richard Bull and others. Nevertheless, the changes will provide a more efficient, equitable and acceptable fundraising mechanism for all agricultural livestock industries that collectively wish to fund significant livestock disease control programs. Before establishing a disease control program the Minister will need to be satisfied that the program is soundly based and that its objectives are reasonably achievable, financially viable and likely to benefit livestock producers in the industry affected by the disease. The Industry Advisory Committee established to advise on the operation of the disease control program will need to consult with the relevant industry to ensure that producers' views are properly reflected in advice to the Minister.
A central plank of the bill is the capacity to collect voluntary contributions from producers when livestock or products are sold—that is, a transaction-based contribution scheme. The automatic collection of funds at the point of sale provides a fairer and simpler system with reduced administration costs. This has proven to be a highly successful method of collecting funds in other States. Authorised collection agents will collect the contributions from designated livestock producers. The rate of contribution will be set on advice from the Industry Advisory Committee. Funds raised through transaction-based contributions will be paid into an industry fund and administered by a fund administrator, who can either be the director-general, the Rural Assistance Authority, an independent corporate or statutory body, or a board of trustees. The fund administrator will be subject to the same auditing and reporting requirements as apply to the director-general under the Act.
I indicated that the proposed amendments allow for voluntary transaction-based contributions. The proposed changes give producers the right to claim back contributions made, if they want, by applying for a refund within a specified period. However, producers claiming a refund will lose their entitlements to services provided by the fund. Producers who seek a service from a program will be required to comply with the rules of the fund. They also have a right to apply to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal if they are unhappy about the decisions made under a scheme. On advice from the industry, the bill retains the current power to impose an industry levy, the amount of which is based on the carrying capacity of a producer's land. For some diseases this may be the most efficient and equitable way to fund the disease control program.
I note that there have been ongoing discussions with the industry about its liabilities under the current scheme for the collection of funds for the OJD program. In particular, there are ongoing discussions with the industry about the need to repay the loan provided by this Government. The raising of funds to repay the loan will be the subject of further negotiations with the New South Wales Farmers Association. The industry has agreed that these negotiations will not impede the progress of the bill, which will introduce a far more effective industry funding mechanism for the future.
I can assure honourable members that this legislation establishes a framework to provide direct support to producers. Its primary aim is to enable the collective funding by the livestock industry of services to assist producers in controlling disease, and that is how it will be used. The move to a transaction-based contribution scheme and its supporting features simplifies the collection of industry funds and provides greater transparency and accountability in how the funds are distributed. I commend the bill to the House.
Mr ANDREW PICCOLI (Murrumbidgee) [7.46 p.m.]: I lead for the Opposition in debate on the Agricultural Livestock (Disease Control Funding) Amendment Bill. The shadow Minister for Agriculture, the Hon. Duncan Gay, will give a detailed response on behalf of the Opposition in the Legislative Council. However I take this opportunity to make a few comments on the bill. Ovine Johne's disease [OJD] has been a contentious issue, particularly in southern New South Wales, for many years now. There has been disagreement between producers as to the appropriate way in which to deal with OJD and whether it can be controlled. Anybody who has read the Land over the past few years would be aware that there has not been one edition that has not contained two, three or four articles and two, three or four letters to the editor dealing with OJD.
As I said, there is disagreement between producers as to what should be done about this disease. It is a difficult issue for the Government, the Opposition and members of The Nationals to deal with. Despite a great deal of consultation with producers and producer organisations, including the New South Wales Farmers Association, over the past few years the New South Wales Government has got this issue wrong, which is why we have this legislation before us. I note the involvement of Richard Bull, a former Nationals member of the Legislative Council, who chaired a committee that thoroughly investigated OJD. Some of the recommendations of that committee resulted in the formulation of the bill.
Essentially, the bill will change the way in which levies are raised for the control and eventual eradication of OJD. New South Wales currently raises a levy based on the carrying capacity of a farmer's land, and that has proven to be a problem. Whenever a levy is imposed we have to establish the basis upon which it should be raised. A few years ago when the New South Wales Government decided to raise such a levy it determined that the levy for each farmer would depend on the carrying capacity of his farm. That decision has subsequently proved to be inappropriate.
The raising of the levy caused particular problems in the border areas of my electorate of Murrumbidgee and in the electorates of the honourable member for Murray-Darling and the honourable member for Albury. New South Wales farmers were charged the levy based on the carrying capacity of their property, but they faced another charge if they sold their sheep in Victoria, which charges a levy on a transaction basis. This created enormous difficulties. I am pleased to see the New South Wales Government moving towards a transaction-based levy, which will solve at least some of the problems in areas of this State that border Victoria.
I also take issue generally with the State Government's revenue-raising activities. The Government has proven its enormous capacity to raise revenue. It constantly raises additional revenue rather than use funds from consolidated revenue, of which it has plenty. In the past few months the Government has levied a few choice taxes on New South Wales, including the clubs tax, land tax for everyone, and vendor stamp duty charges. The Government has plenty of consolidated revenue but whenever it faces an impost that should be funded from that source it finds nice new ways of raising still more money. The OJD levy is just one example, and fishing licences are probably another. I do not think any business people—farmers included—have been exempt from the various ways in which the State Government has reached into their pockets.
The Opposition will not oppose the bill. As I said, the Hon. Duncan Gay will respond to it in detail in the other place. We support the move to a transaction-based levy because the current system of raising funds for disease control is not working. Nobody, including those in the sheep industry, likes to pay levies or taxes, but the industry accepts that it must bear some responsibility for disease control programs. However, it rejects the current model, which has proved to be complex, unfair and unworkable. Sheep producers were particularly unhappy with the levy collection system, and many refused to make the voluntary payment. This left a shortfall of about $1.8 million, which denied a number of farmers the financial assistance due to them.
To the Government's credit, it recognised the difficulties that farmers and sheep producers were facing during the drought and it suspended the repayment of the $4.2 million loan that it had made to the industry for OJD control measures. Under the new transaction-based fee arrangements, farmers will be able to claim back the money they pay if they choose to do so. If they reclaim those funds they will be unable to access the services offered by the fund. Most people would agree that that is an equitable arrangement. As I said, a similar transaction-based levy system works well in Victoria and in South Australia, and there is no reason why it will not be as successful in New South Wales.
The Minister will also establish a couple of industry committees to deal with ovine Johne's disease control. That is very important, and I commend the Hon. Richard Bull for his work on the committee from which this amending bill has emanated. The Opposition supports the move to a transaction-based levy but the Department of Primary Industries, formerly the Department of Agriculture, still has much work to do to gain the full confidence of producers. I am concerned about some of the cuts that will be made to the department. Substantial job cuts have been announced. Ovine Johne's is a complex disease that is difficult to manage, and cutting departmental staff and resources will not make that task any easier. The change in the levy is a step in the right direction but I do not believe that the savage cuts to the department will be helpful.
Mr THOMAS GEORGE (Lismore) [7.55 p.m.]: This is a critical time for the livestock industry in New South Wales and in this country as a whole. Both the State and Federal governments have a responsibility to be ever vigilant and to constantly improve preparedness and the ability to react to any animal disease outbreaks. For some time the Coalition has supported measures that increased this State's ability to react to any outbreak of animal disease. However, the Carr Labor Government has failed to meet its responsibilities in this area and has imposed a user-pays system on the New South Wales industry. I was involved with measures to control the tick problem in the Northern Rivers and on the North Coast of New South Wales. Almost all responsibility for that program has now been passed to producers in those areas, who virtually protect the rest of the State.
This Government has never offered any support to producers to implement the National Livestock Identification Scheme. It is a different story in Victoria, where a Labor Government has come out in support of producers. Various Opposition members in this House and the shadow Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in the other place have continually called on the Carr Labor Government to support producers in implementing that scheme. But the Government has failed to provide any direct funding support for farmers or to guarantee funding for the national ovine Johne's disease abattoir surveillance program.
The Agricultural Livestock (Disease Control Funding) Amendment Bill aims to rectify the New South Wales Government's current unwillingness to take animal disease control as seriously as it should. It has the potential to play an important role in preparing the industry to react swiftly and effectively to disease outbreaks by implementing a transaction-based levy instigated and presided over by representative industry committees. It is again left to the stock and station agents to collect the new levy. I am a past president of the agency industry organisation. In the same way as the Government forces local government to perform extra duties for less pay, stock and station agents throughout the State are continually forced to collect levies and do much other work on behalf of the industry without recompense. When the producer gets his cheque at the end of the day he says, "Look at what those hungry agents have taken off me again today." He does not appreciate that some of that money will be used to rectify problems and benefit the industry as a whole.
The agency industry is a vital part of the chain, and all of the industry has worked together. The industry was shown a draft of the bill only recently and its major concern is that, because the transaction levy will be collected at the saleyard, farmers will assume that the levy is another agent fee. Everyone supports this voluntary-based system. I ask the Minister to be conscious of the fact that the State is experiencing one of its worst-ever droughts and producers will need support for this extra cost. As previous speakers have said, the shadow Minister in the other place will comment more broadly in relation to all of those issues.
Miss CHERIE BURTON (Kogarah—Parliamentary Secretary) [8.00 p.m.], in reply: I thank honourable members for their contributions to this debate. Livestock disease control funding is of concern to many honourable members. The Minister for Primary Industries has assured me that the concerns raised will be addressed when these amendments are implemented. Central to any disease control program is the need for adequate resources to implement measures to prevent, eradicate or manage significant livestock diseases. The Government is committed to working with industry to achieve disease control and protect our livestock industries. As part of this partnership, the Government needs to have in place legislation which will allow industry to implement acceptable mechanisms for raising funds to support disease control programs.
The amendments in the bill respond to industry requests for an efficient and equitable mechanism of collecting funds to operate effective disease control programs. The Government has listened to suggestions and recommendations for reform of the voluntary contribution-compulsory levy system in place under the current Act. The proposed transaction-based contribution scheme is strongly supported as a more simple, fairer and acceptable mechanism of collecting funds. The bill will deliver effective legislation which will enhance livestock disease control programs throughout our State. I commend the bill to the House.
Motion agreed to.
Bill read a second time and passed through remaining stages.