Mr COLEMAN (Banks—Assistant Minister for Finance) (13:08): The Biosecurity Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2018 will help in our continuous fight to manage biosecurity risks and further strengthen Australia's already enviable biosecurity status. Our enviable pest and disease free status provides a key competitive advantage for our agricultural exports and must be supported by the combined efforts of governments, industry and the community. Our biosecurity system also plays a key role in protecting our environment and biodiversity from the devastating impacts of exotic pests and diseases. We continue to face new challenges driven by the increasing volume and complexity of international trade and travel. It is important that we all recognise our shared responsibility and contribute to managing the biosecurity risk we create and the benefits we enjoy. We are continually bringing about incremental and real improvements to our risk management arrangements. In this vein, the coalition government has delivered up to $200 million over four years to strengthen Australia's biosecurity system through the Agricultural Competitiveness white paper: stronger farmers stronger economy, on top of an additional $100 million to fight pests and weeds. And we have continued our investment. The 2018-19 budget included an additional $121.6 million for biosecurity as an initial down payment on our commitment to strengthening the national biosecurity system in response to the recommendations of the independent review. The additional funding will support trade and help us to detect, identify and respond to exotic pests and diseases earlier to keep our clean, green image. These increases are locked in for the future. The new ASL in funding is there to support funding for biosecurity on an ongoing basis. The coalition government is committed to ensuring biosecurity continues to be adequately resourced and that all risk creators and beneficiaries equitably contribute to our shared challenge. It is not fair to expect farmers and everyday Australians to pay for managing biosecurity risk that is created by others. There is no shortage of evidence of the considerable costs associated with allowing pests to spread and establish. To address this issue and in response to one of the key recommendations of the independent review, the government is introducing a biosecurity imports levy on imports by sea starting from 1 July 2019. The levy will raise an estimated $325 million over the forward estimates, which will both sustain and bolster investment in the national biosecurity system to boost our ability to respond to biosecurity risk and threats, streamline processing and reduce regulatory burdens. The bill amends the Biosecurity Act 2015 to address difficulties experienced in collecting information about goods that may pose a biosecurity risk after they have entered the country by providing information gathering powers that allow for faster and more accurate identification of at-risk goods. These powers will enable the Director of Biosecurity or the Director of Human Biosecurity to issue a general requirement for persons in possession of goods such as uncooked prawns that have been released from biosecurity control to provide to the relevant director information about the goods, such as their current location. Having this information would then enable a secure direction to be issued regarding the goods, which can prevent their further movement and will support targeted operational responses to control biosecurity risks. It also addresses recommendation 2 of the Senate committee reporting on biosecurity risks associated with imported seafood, including uncooked prawns. When used with existing powers in the Biosecurity Act, the new information-gathering powers contribute to a more robust biosecurity system. The bill also enhances our ability to update alternative import conditions quickly and easily in response to changes in biosecurity risk and includes other minor changes that will make the act easier to administer. Agricultural industries are a large contributor to the Australian economy, and it is essential to protect them, our export markets, our unique environment, our health and our way of life by keeping Australia free of exotic pests and disease. This bill is another demonstration of the Australian government's continuing commitment to maintaining and improving the biosecurity system to enable us to manage these threats. I commend the bill to the House. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time.