Biosecurity 'tax' passes to the Senate

The Opposition and Cross Bench have rejected the government’s signature biosecurity bill today as it passed to the Senate. 

The government forced through the Bills 74 votes to 67, with only Labor MPs’ support. 

The Greens and some Independent MPs amplified industry concerns in speeches last week, including the depositing of collected levies into consolidated revenue and that risk creators should be footing the Bill.

The Bill will have a harder time in the Senate, where the Labor Party does not have sufficient numbers and is reliant on The Greens or minor parties and independents to get the Bill through.

There are only three Senate sitting days, starting May 14, before the apparent July 1 implementation date, which could be in jeopardy due to this scrutiny. 

The bill has been referred to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee and a report due is due on May 10. 

Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories Kristy McBain conducted the official motions for the government on the Bills, however Minister for Agriculture Murray Watts was present in the chamber. 

National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) President David Jochinke said while farmers were disappointed to see the controversial levy progress to the Senate, it was encouraging to see MPs validating the industry’s strong concerns.

“This was a very lonely vote for the Government, and we thank every member who voted against this bad idea," he said.

"It’s an important demonstration to farmers that their concerns are being heard.”

Joining opposition to the levy by the Liberals and Nationals, Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown stated her party had “serious concerns about the lack of transparency and oversight” applied to the allocation of collected industry funds.

Ms Watson-Brown also noted: “The Greens will be pushing the government to commit to progressing a levy on risk creators in the form of a container levy.”

Several members of the crossbench also reiterated the industry’s concerns. Indi MP Dr Helen Haines shared concern that the levy will be going into consolidated revenue, noting that “there is no guarantee that this new charge on farmers will actually go to biosecurity measures”.

“In criticising this bill, farmers are not asking the government to do all the work, because they already contribute to biosecurity measures via existing levies, on-farm activities and much, much more” she said. 

Allegra Spender MP called out “the failure of the government to follow its own processes and best practices in policy development”.

Mr Jochinke thanked the MPs for standing up for farmers and called on Senators to oppose the levy.

“It’s as simple as not standing for poor policy, and we can only hope that Senators see that too.”

The bills explained  

The government's package of three bills seeks to impose a new biosecurity protection levy to be payable by producers.   

They are the: Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies Bill 2024, Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Charges Bill 2024, Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies and Charges Collection Bill 2024.  

Two of the bills seek to implement a biosecurity protection levy or charge to be inflicted on Australian farmers to pay for biosecurity activities which are undertaken by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.   

The third bill, the Agriculture (Biosecurity Protection) Levies and Charges Collections Bill 2024, will enable the collection of the levy.   

The levy is slated to commence on July 1, 2024.  

Labor will set the tax rate as a proportion of an industry’s average gross value of production over a three-year period.   

The legislation lacks any detail of the cost to farmers or how the levy will be collected. It is not yet clear what industry will have to pay.   

More than 50 agricultural representative groups previously signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressing unified opposition about the new tax.