Scrap the Biosecurity Tax Now!
Australian agricultural producers take biosecurity seriously.
That's why we take real responsibility by funding biosecurity directly within our own farming businesses. We also pay through existing compulsory levies, including to fund proactive risk management and prevention, and for emergency eradication and management of pests and diseases.
However, the Federal Government's proposed 'Biosecurity Protection Levy' is a fundamentally flawed policy proposal which fails to deliver better biosecurity protections. It also undermines fundamental trust and confidence in the long-standing partnerships created through compulsory levies.
GPA is extremely thankful and grateful that the concerns we've raised about this flawed policy proposal have ultimately been listened to and acted on, by members of the Federal Parliament.
All MPs except Labor voted against it in the Lower House in March, resulting in a Senate inquiry to examine the details where a dissenting report recommended the bills to implement the tax/levy not be passed.
On May 14, the Greens, Independent Senator David Pocock and others including Independent Senator Tammy Tyrell, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie, One Nation and United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet, also indicated they would not be supporting the bills. HERE
Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said it was "poor policy in both principle and design".
This follows a continued advocacy campaign based on the concerns of GPA members about the policy's fundamental flaws and failure to achieve fairness or equity - recognising Australian grain producers already do the heavy lifting on biosecurity and others, including risk-creators, need to contribute more to shared responsibility and accountability.
This advocacy included GPA leading a process to raise these concerns and policy facts through a unified voice. More than 50 agricultural representative groups cosigned a joint letter with GPA to Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, expressing unified opposition and concerns about this flawed proposal.
Agriculture Minister, Murray Watt, and Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, were also included in the correspondence to the PM, which calls for action to address major policy flaws and inequities.
The letter says the principles of this policy proposal do not accord with the recent Productivity Commission report into levies, which assesses the policy against well-understood criteria. The independent Productivity Commission analysis also supports industry’s view that this is a tax. It is proposed to be non-hypothecated and carries multiple risks and consequences for producers.
The farm representative groups which signed the letter are calling for an immediate reversal of the government’s flawed ‘one-size-fits-all’ tax proposal to prevent unintended consequences.
This decision would help start the process of repairing the damage that’s already been inflicted on trust and confidence in the existing levy system, and key partnerships with producers.
It will also allow a more considered approach to accommodate levy payers’ concerns.
GPA will continue to monitor the situation regarding these bills that have been listed for debate in the Senate and also engage with the government and other stakeholders to strengthen biosecurity in a way that's actually fair and equitable.
GPA Biosecurity Levy Survey - June 2023: GRAIN PRODUCERS ROUNDLY REJECT 10pc BIOSECURITY LEVY
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