Wheat Export Marketing Amendment Bill 2012

The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a second time.(Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through here. )

This means that the majority agree with the main idea of the bill and that the House can now consider the bill in more detail.

One member, Nationals MP Tony Crook, crossed the floor to vote 'aye' with the Government.(Read more about what it means to rebel and cross the floor in our FAQ section. )

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to transition the wheat export industry to full deregulation by abolishing the Wheat Export Accreditation Scheme and winding up Wheat Export Australia.(Read more about the effect of the Wheat Export Marketing Amendment Bill 2012 in its bills digest (333 KB). )

Prior to 2008, Australia's wheat export market operated under a ' single desk' policy.(Read more about the history of the regulation of the wheat industry here. ) This means that bulk wheat exports were directed through a single exporter of bulk wheat under the Australian Wheat Board International Limited (AWB International). The Export Wheat Commission managed the export of non-bulk wheat (that is, bagged or container wheat).

The single desk policy ended with the introduction of the Wheat Export Marketing Bill 2008 and related bill,(Read more about the bills in their bills digests. The digest for the Wheat Export Marketing Bill 2008 is available here (198 KB). The digest for the Wheat Export Marketing (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008 is available here (53.1 KB). ) which established the Wheat Export Accreditation Scheme that was regulated through the Wheat Exports Australia. This introduced competition into the bulk wheat export market so that "[r]ather than forcing growers to sell their wheat through a single exporter they [were] able to choose from a number of accredited exporters as well as domestic outlets."(See the explanatory memorandum of the Wheat Export Marketing Bill 2008.)

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