EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1985 NO. 243
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Primary Industry
BARLEY RESEARCH LEVY REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
The Barley Research Levy Act 1980 (the Act) imposes a levy on barley produced in Australia and harvested on or after 1 September 1980 provided the barley is delivered by the grower to another person otherwise than for storage on behalf of the grower.
Sub-section 9(1) of the Act empowers the Governor-General to make regulations prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed.
Before making regulations to vary the rate of levy, the Governor-General is required under sub-section 9(3) to take into consideration any relevant recommendation made by the Australian Wheatgrowers’ Federation to the Minister for Primary Industry.
The purpose of the levy is to provide finance for the research in connection with the barley industry in each of the States.
Section 6 of the Act sets the rate of levy at 30 cents per tonne but provides for another rate to be prescribed,
providing that the other rate is not higher than 50 cents per tonne.
The Australian Wheatgrowers’ Federation has recommended to the Minister, and the Minister has agreed, that the rate of Levy on barley be increased from 30 cents per tonne to 35 cents per tonne.
The increased levy has been sought to maintain the real value of moneys available for industry research, and to enable the barley research funding bodies to create and hold levels of research funds such that they are able to maintain ana not impinge on continuing research initiatives as seasonal conditions fluctuate. The increased levy is also a move towards the Government’s objective of encouraging rural industry research to reach, within five years, a level where contributions by and rural industries are up to 0.5% of the gross value of the industry’s production. The Government has undertaken to match the contributions of individual industries to this percentage level in the same time frame. The present increase to 35 cents per tonne represents an increase from 0.21% to 0.24% of the barley industry’s gross value of production.
The purpose of the proposed Regulations is to apply, from 1 November 1985, an operative levy rate of 35 cents per tonne.
Currently the operative level is 30 cents per tonne.