Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop) (10:42): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I ask that my second-reading speech be incorporated into Hansard.

Incorporated speech as follows:

The Bill makes amendments to 11 Acts to improve efficiency, operation, administration and enforcement.

Amendments to the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Act 1992

The Bill modernises authorised officer powers, removes unnecessary barriers to sharing information with other regulators and clarifies requirements for giving notices, making requests and recovery of debts. This will resolve ambiguity, improve efficiency and the ability for authorised officers to protect public safety, animal health and welfare, the environment and trade.

The Bill expands the definition of a ‘label’ so that the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) ‘approved label’ will be the applicable standard in most circumstances instead of the label affixed to the chemical product. This harmonises Victoria’s requirements with other jurisdictions and improves the ability to communicate and enforce the legal obligations of chemical users when label changes are made.

The Bill broadens the scope of a destruction notice that may be issued under the Act to allow discretion for alternatives such as recycling, in alignment with government policy for waste and resource recovery.

Amendments to the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994

The Bill improves the controls for noxious weeds and pest animals and strengthens inspection and enforcement powers of authorised officers to better regulate the risk of introduction or spread of noxious weeds and pest animals in Victoria. Globalisation and the expansion of trade have increased Victoria’s exposure to biosecurity risks and increased the rate of new incursions into the State. The amendments create new offences and impose new requirements to address these risks. The Bill provides for graduated penalties for offences relating to the spreading of noxious weeds without a permit and improve consistency of penalties to similar offences relating to pest animals. These amendments will improve our ability to manage the risks associated with noxious weeds and pest animals.

Amendments to the Dairy Act 2000

The Bill removes ambiguity about the application of the Public Administration Act 2004 to Dairy Food Safety Victoria employees and clarifies that all public sector employees are subject to the values and principles set out in that Act.

Amendments to the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981

The Bill ensures that in the event of a large-scale natural disaster, such as the 2019–20 bushfires or biosecurity responses, the health and welfare outcomes for animals, both domestic and wild, are improved. By mirroring the existing human health emergency order to allow broader, controlled access to Schedule 4 and 8 medicines for animal treatment, the impacts of these events on animal health and welfare can be reduced such as by ensuring rapid provision of pain relief and anaesthetics for the surgical and medical treatment of wounds. The Australian Veterinary Association and Zoos Victoria are supportive of this important initiative. If it been in place for the 2019–20 bushfires it is likely to have had a significant impact on relief activities, including ministration of care to impacted wildlife, and allowing compassionate donation of medicines by veterinary practitioners to be quickly supplied to impacted areas.

The Bill removes potential impediments to interstate trade in the hemp industry through harmonising legislated thresholds for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in low-THC cannabis with other states and territories.

The Bill improves the efficiency and effectiveness of Part IVA of the DPCSA for authorities for low-THC cannabis by: introducing further regulation making powers; improving the fit and proper person assessments for applicants; introducing new provisions for the protection of sensitive information; and introducing the ability to issue infringement notices and establishing a new, lesser offence for non-compliance with minor conditions of an authority. The amendments also widen the eligibility criteria for an authority by narrowing the definitions of ‘serious offence’ and ‘relative’.

Amendments to the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2011

The Bill strengthens an already effective Act and harmonises some provisions with farm debt mediation legislation in other States.

The Bill will strengthen farmers’ rights to farm debt mediation by expanding the definition of ‘farming operation’ to include forestry and aquaculture; retaining a farmer’s right to be offered mediation by a creditor if the farmer has previously initiated mediation when not in default; and requiring a creditor to hold an exemption certificate in all instances prior to taking enforcement action under a farm mortgage.

The Bill will also streamline the administration of the farm debt mediation scheme by transferring all administrative responsibilities to the Victorian Small Business Commission.

Amendments to the Livestock Disease Control Act 1994

The Bill strengthens the existing legislative framework available for the prevention, monitoring and control of animal diseases in Victoria by improving compliance and enforcement tools, creating new offences to underpin livestock and bee traceability through the supply chain and extending and clarifying the powers of inspectors.

The Bill supports Victoria’s biosecurity system by extending beekeeper registration requirements, establishing better risk management of livestock exposed to sewage and pigs exposed to prohibited pig feed, and providing for the Exotic Diseases Fund to pay the costs of administering exotic disease response activities associated with protecting animal welfare.

The Bill also modernises the governance arrangements for the livestock compensation funds by revising the structure of the advisory committees to improve openness and transparency, consistent with the Premier’s Circular No. 2015/02 on Good Board Governance, which requires that selection processes be merit-based, fair, open and diverse. These amendments will facilitate a broader, more diverse range of candidates and will be complemented by advice from the compensation fund advisory committees on specific skills and experience necessary for each committee. The composition of the committees will continue to include strong producer and industry representation.

Amendments to the Meat Industry Act 1993

The Bill removes ambiguity about the application of the Public Administration Act 2004 to PrimeSafe employees and clarifies that all public sector employees are subject to the values and principles set out in that Act. Other minor amendments to the Meat Industry Act will improve its operation and provide greater clarity on the food safety regulatory framework for meat, including the regulatory arrangements that apply to packaged meat.

Amendments to the Plant Biosecurity Act 2010

The Bill provides additional support to inspectors when interpreting and applying the requirements of the Plant Biosecurity Act 2010 to prevent the entry and spread of plant pests and diseases in Victoria.

The Bill amends the definition of a plant health declaration to provide a clear power to authorise a person to issue a declaration. It clarifies circumstances in which an Importation Order can be made to prevent entry of pests and diseases into Victoria; and the notification of relevant persons, and taking of samples, when plants are seized or detained. It also provides new offences for inappropriate use of plant health documents, and the sale of diseased plants, both of which complement existing offence provisions, and will support the use of Infringement Notices for the offences.

Amendments to the Rural Assistance Schemes Act 2016

The Bill improves flexibility for an externally appointed Member of the Rural Assistance Commissioner to operate part time, rather than full time. Accountability and administrative efficiency are improved by requiring only the responsible minister of a rural assistance scheme to approve an instrument of delegation as it relates to their portfolio, rather than the lead minister of a department.

Amendments to the Veterinary Practice Act 1997

The Bill provides greater flexibility to the Veterinary Practitioners Registration Board of Victoria (the Board) to register veterinary practitioners, conduct hearings and investigations and modernises disclosure of information provisions. It also restructures several offences to ensure those that are suitable may be enforced by infringement notice.

The Bill improves the efficiency and flexibility of the Board to conduct professional misconduct preliminary investigations by providing it with an option to enter into an agreement with a veterinary practitioner to impose conditions or restrictions on their practising, as an alternative to continuing to allow the veterinary practitioner to continue practising unrestricted or suspending their registration, pending the outcome of an investigation.

The Bill improves governance of the Board by removing the requirement that the President and Deputy President roles be restricted to registered veterinarians, allowing for a broader range of skill sets to be considered. It also removes the requirement that one veterinary position be an employee of the University of Melbourne, instead requiring that position to be filled by a registered veterinarian with skills and experience in veterinary education thereby broadening the range of professionals available for Board appointment.

Amendments to the Wildlife Act 1975

The Bill corrects an administrative error, to clarify who can remain on specified hunting areas at certain times during the duck season. This will improve public safety on duck hunting wetlands by ensuring people in specified hunting areas during specified times during the duck hunting season hold the relevant game licence.

I commend the Bill to the house.