6th Sep 2017, 3:56 PM – Senate Motions - Sugar Industry - Code of Conduct

The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Senator Pauline Hanson also on behalf of Senators Lucy Gichuhi and Jacqui Lambie. Motions like these don't have legal force but can be politically influential as they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) it was the sole recommendation of a 2015 inquiry by the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee, chaired by Senator Sterle, Australian Labor Party Senator for Western Australia, that a mandatory sugar industry Code of Conduct be developed and implemented,

(ii) in view of the perishable nature of cut cane, the Sugar Industry Code of Conduct was put in place in April 2017 to prevent possible abuse by mill owners of any monopoly power they have in supply contract negotiations with growers and their collectives, and provides a mechanism for arbitration should there be a deadlock, and

(iii) the sugar industry operates without price supports or subsidies, and grower incomes are directly linked to export sales, meaning the industry requires the stability and confidence that the code provides; and

(b) supports the Sugar Industry Code of Conduct in order to provide certainty to Australia's cane growers.