27 June 2014

MEDIA RELEASE

AGRICULTURAL COMPETITIVENESS COMES LAST IN RACE TO FIX DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURES BOTTOM LINE

The decision by the Government to increase live animal export document
processing, inspection, certification and registration fees and charges by up to 66%
from 1 July is an act of bureaucratic bastardry in a race to fix the Department of
Agricultures bottom line, the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Livestock
Exporters Council, Alison Penfold said today.

The decision, sent to exporters at 7.30pm last night, has angered and disappointed
exporters and left them facing fees and charges that will put some operators in the
red and potentially others out of business.

The Minister for Agriculture has made a huge play on his commitment to support
the live trade as well as increase agricultural competitiveness across the sectors
industries. We thought he would take our representations through the Cost
Recovery Impact Statement process seriously. Yet here we are facing outrageous
fees and charges that directly fly in the face of the Ministers statements and the
Governments red tape and deregulation agenda, Ms Penfold said.

It is our firm view that this decision entrenches and legitimises cost recovery
arrangements that are unfair, unreasonable and in breach of the Governments own
cost recovery guidelines.

Exporters are prepared to pay for services delivered, but those services must be
efficient, transparent, sustainable and at least placed under some level of
competitive pressure to ensure competitive pricing.

The simple fact is that none of that exists in the new fees and charges schedule
released today a schedule that deems it acceptable to charge some exporters
$671.80 per hour for simple document processing.

There is no correlation between the services provided and the fees charged. For
example, we know that Departmental officers within a range of job classifications
undertake this task. Some of the work is done by veterinarians at the APS4 and APS
6 levels. The salaries for these officers range from $62, 818 to $109,584. If we add a
30% salary on cost and then add the Departments 56% overhead costs, the hourly
rate for these two job levels comes in at $75 and $130.70.

That means the Government is gouging a 500%+ premium out of the pockets of the
livestock export supply chain including producers and exporters.

Ms Penfold said that exporters are now calling on government to make urgent
changes to service delivery arrangements to offset the new charging regime.

The Government must take immediate steps to rectify the internal archaic and
inefficient Department of Agriculture business and service delivery systems that
have led to this perverted outcome.

Exporters have been trying for years to assist the Department to fix many service
delivery inefficiencies they themselves have identified to no avail in an effort to
ensure that the Department met its cost recovery requirements including efficient
cost delivery.

What were once problems with solutions, have manifested into a budgetary crisis
for the Department, with exporters left exposed to the Governments monopolistic
and unjustified response.

The Minister must exert some influence on his Department immediately if he is true
to his word and seek an urgent package of changes to offset the costs that now
threaten the viability and sustainability of the live trade.

Ends
Contact: Alison Penfold (0408 633 026)