By Lucy Knight
A FEW months ago, the Government had committed money towards reforms at the Australian Quarantine and Inspection service to streamline the export certification process and deliver greater efficiency with new online technologies and less duplication.
When the mechanism for paying for those reforms was disallowed in the Senate this week, though, suddenly the Government is accusing the Opposition of attacking border protection.
The level of spin from the Government surrounding this week's vote on the disallowance motion regarding the rebate for export certification has been nothing short of astounding.
Last night following the disallowance motion in the Senate, Minister for Agriculture Tony Burke unleashed a scathing attack on the Opposition and accused it of attacking funding for biosecurity.
He said because of their vote, farmers could pay a bigger price in the event of an exotic disease outbreak.
"Australia’s biosecurity defences protect us from exotic pests and diseases which can have a devastating impact on business owners," Mr Burke said.
"The Nationals and Liberals were in government when equine influenza spread throughout our horse industries, costing horse owners, trainers, jockeys, caterers and many more businesses.
"That single outbreak cost industry an estimated $1 billion and many businesses are still only just recovering financially.
"Now this offensive move by the Nationals and Liberals will force Australia’s biosecurity budget to shrink to levels which are lower than ever."
What a stretch.
The fact is that when the Government decided it would not reinstate the 40 per cent export rebate, it was industry that pushed for the reforms.
They said plainly to Mr Burke that they would not accept a removal of the rebate when AQIS over the years has become hopelessly bureaucratic and inefficient and the hoops exporters needed to jump through to get their goods out of Australia were numbering something ridiculous.
Reform was needed, they shouted. And to be fair, they'd been shouting it for years.
The Government took that as the baton to run off and claim a new agenda for reform, but had never determined the real cost to instigate the reforms necessary to AQIS nor had it set a benchmark for when these reforms would be met.
Exporting industries know too well just how hard it can be to get things done through AQIS – some of the red-tape stories involving AQIS will horrify you – so it comes as no surprise that there was widespread scepticism that the service would have the reforms rolled out and efficiencies realised any time soon.
It stands to reason then, too, that exporters called for the rebate to stay while the major renovations needed at AQIS were carried out.
This is why the Opposition voted down the removal of the rebate.
There was never any legislation coupling the removal of the rebate and the reform agenda.
For the Government to be arguing that the Opposition has blocked reform is untrue. They blocked the removal of the rebate.
This week's activities should be sending the minister and the Government a clear message that half-baked ideas for reforms with no plan, no costings and no benchmarks are simply not acceptable – especially when the industry is expected to foot the bill through measures being stripped away from them.
As in other rural policy areas (water being the most obvious one) this Government seems more content to put the cart before the horse when it comes to reform versus short term politics.
So please spare me the spin regarding the Opposition's supposed attack on border security, and start doing things properly.