FARMERS, fishers, community and industry groups can apply for grants of between $5,000 and $100,000 to assist them to protect and improve the condition of soil, vegetation and biodiversity and support agricultural systems to adapt to change.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, called for applications for the competitive $50 million Smart Farms Small Grants, through the National Landcare Program, which opens on 24 October 2017.

"Our farmers take immense pride in managing their land to ensure they can pass on productive and healthy land to the next generation of farmers," Minister Joyce said.

"Significant technological advances are taking place in land management and the Smart Farms Small Grants will provide grant funding to develop and extend new tools, methods and technology for farmers to continue to be at the forefront of land management.

Under the program these grants will:

• protect and improve the condition of natural resources (in particular soils and vegetation and biodiversity)
• increase land managers' awareness, knowledge, capability and adoption of tools and management practices that will deliver productive and profitable agriculture, fishing, aquaculture and farm forestry industries
• protect Australia's biodiversity
• assist Australia to meet its obligations under relevant international treaties.

"Our farmers manage 61 percent of Australia's land and have a long-held reputation for sustainable and innovative land management. These Smart Farms Small Grants will help farmers to come up with, or take advantage of the next great idea."

Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister, Luke Hartsuyker, said the projects supported by a Smart Farms Small Grant can make a real difference to local communities and deliver results that will be beneficial for farmers and consumers.

"I strongly encourage people who have a good idea about how to improve soils, vegetation and biodiversity in their communities to apply for one of these small grants and make that idea a reality," Minister Hartsuyker said.

"These Smart Farms Small Grants support the adoption of on‑the-ground innovative practices that improve the management and quality of our natural resources and increase on-farm productivity."

Fast facts

• The Coalition Government is investing more than $1 billion for the next phase of the National Landcare Program.
• In Australia, there are around 5400 Landcare groups and 100,000 active volunteers in those groups.
• Over 80 percent of Australian farmers are involved in Landcare. $50m is part of the $134 million over six years for the Smart Farms Program through the next phase of the $1 billion National Landcare Program.
• Smart Farms Small Grants are available between $5,000 and $100,000—applications for Round One opened 24 October and close 7 December 2017.

www.nrm.gov.au​

THE House of Representatives Environment and Energy Committee will hear from the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) and the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) at the final public hearing tomorrow for the inquiry into modernising Australia’s electricity grid.

The Chair of the Committee, Andrew Broad MP, said the Committee was looking forward to hearing from the Australian Energy Market Commission about its plans for supporting the grid during this period of modernisation.

“The Australian Energy Market Commission is the ruler maker for Australian electricity and gas markets.  The Committee is keen to hear about the kinds of new rules the Commission thinks will best support a modern grid,” Mr Broad said.

The Committee will also hear from the Australian Energy Regulator. The Australian Energy Regulator regulates wholesale and retail energy markets, and energy networks, under national energy legislation and rules.

The Deputy Chair of the Committee, Mr Pat Conroy MP, said the Committee was looking forward to hearing about the challenges a modern regulator faces.

“We want to ensure that the modern grid operates in accordance with the rules, and the Australian Energy Regulator’s role is an essential part of this,” Mr Conroy said.

As part of the inquiry, the Committee is encouraging members of the community to share their views on the electricity system via an online questionnaire.

Further information about the inquiry, including submissions from organisations appearing at the hearings, is available on the inquiry website.

Public hearing details: 

10.00 am – 11.15 am, Thursday, 26 October 2017
Committee Room 1R4, Parliament House, Canberra

The proceedings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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THE impacts on local Australian businesses from global internet-based competition will be the focus of a new inquiry by the House Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources Committee.

The Committee will examine how Australian businesses, particularly in the retail and small business sectors, have responded to growing competition from global online companies and what effect this change has already had and will continue to have. The Committee welcomes submissions to the inquiry addressing the terms of reference.

Committee Chair Michelle Landry MP said that the inquiry is both timely and important: “Online sales currently make up a small but noticeable proportion of Australia’s total retail spending. While that will grow, it is vital that Parliament understands the effects it will have on local Australian businesses.”

The inquiry will also examine the effects of global internet-based competition on the broader Australian economy, as well as on the employment levels and conditions for those in the sector.

“Approximately 10 percent of Australians are employed in the retail industry, and around 40 percent of Australia’s private-sector employment is in small businesses”, Ms Landry noted, “so changes in how those sectors operate will have a significant impact on Australia’s economy as a whole”.

The Committee is calling for submissions by 1 December and will schedule public hearings to further examine issues in detail.

The Committee will inquire into the impacts of global internet-based businesses on local Australian business, particularly in the retail and small business sectors and will consider the following:

• How has/will the existing retail industry cope with changes to the sector’s landscape brought about by the existence of global online retail business?
   
• What are the consequences for small businesses in terms of new competition and access to digital platforms?
   
• How are small businesses responding to digital change and what is their uptake of new digital business services?
   
• What impacts do the above have on employment, including employment levels and conditions?
   
• What roles can the Commonwealth Government and Parliament play in fostering innovation for Australian businesses to respond to these challenges?

 Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website.

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THE Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit report has found that much work remains for cybersecurity compliance and cyber resilience to be achieved across the Commonwealth.

The inquiry focused on the Auditor-General’s cybersecurity follow-up audit.

The Committee was most concerned to find that the Australian Taxation Office and Department of Immigration and Border Protection were still not compliant with the Government’s mandatory mitigation strategies, despite the Government setting a target date to achieve compliance by 30 June 2014.

The report makes 10 recommendations aimed at strengthening the cybersecurity posture of Government entities, including making it mandatory for all Commonwealth entities to:

• comply with the Essential Eight cybersecurity strategies;
• join the Internet Gateway Reduction Program; and
• participate in the Australian Signals Directorate’s annual cybersecurity survey.

The Committee also recommended that both the Attorney-General’s Department and Australian Signals Directorate report annually to the Parliament on the Commonwealth’s cybersecurity posture.

Committee Chair Senator Dean Smith said cybersecurity should be a top priority for all Government entities.

“Achieving compliance with the mandatory cyber mitigation strategies is one way entities improve their cyber resilience and mitigate cyber-incidents, alongside good governance and a strong culture of prioritising cybersecurity within the context of entity-wide strategic objectives.”

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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THE City of Melbourne is encouraging Melbourne companies, entrepreneurs, business owners and start-ups to take part in the 2018 Lord Mayor’s Business Mission to China and Japan.

Expressions of interest are now open to the biennial Business Mission which showcases the best Melbourne has to offer in the fields of innovation, health and life sciences, urban sustainability and general aviation.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle AC will lead the mission to Osaka, Japan and Tianjin, Beijing, Wuxi and Suzhou, China from March 21-30 next year and said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“This Business Mission will expose Melbourne companies to potential global investors and business partners by providing a foot in the door to the Asian market,” the Lord Mayor said.

“It’s not only about showcasing and building relationships with China and Japan, but more importantly about getting contracts signed and trade happening with Melbourne based companies.

“In recent years, the relationships and opportunities forged by Business Missions have delivered millions of dollars in trade and investment for Melbourne across a range of fields including biotech, urban design and planning, and education.”

Leffler Simes Architects Director Stephen Evans said his company is now doing business with one of the world’s biggest furniture stores in China after taking part in the Lord Mayor’s Business Mission in 2016.

“The Lord Mayor’s Business Mission helped us expand on our business relationships with IKEA here in Australia. We are currently designing two new stores for IKEA as part of their expansion into China,” Stephen said. “That’s allowed us to hire additional staff here in Melbourne and establish a new office in Shanghai.

“The City of Melbourne’s Business Mission team helped us by setting up meetings with numerous Chinese building developers and design institutes and as a result we’ve now signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) to enable us to co-operate and explore working together.

“Overall, it was a very positive and productive experience for us.”

Businesses, like Leffler Simes, that took part in the 2016 Lord Mayor’s Business Mission were involved in more than 300 tailored business meetings and eight MoUs were signed as a result of the mission.

Applications for the 2018 Lord Mayor’s Business Mission close at 4pm Thursday, 30 November 2017.

When applying to take part, businesses will need to explain what they’d like to achieve by traveling to Japan or China with the City of Melbourne, what their competitive advantage is and include a short profile on their business.

For further enquiries phone 03 9658 9366 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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A PARLIAMENTARY committee will discuss at a public hearing tomorrow the connections between tax avoidance, cash activity and crime in the importation and retail of illicit tobacco products.

The hearing is part of the House Committee on Tax and Revenue’s inquiry into Taxpayer Engagement with the Tax System.

At the hearing, Mr Rohan Pike, Illicit Trade Adviser to the Australian Retailers Association, and Mr Jos De Bruin, CEO of the Master Grocers of Australia, will discuss the impact of the illicit tobacco trade on retailers, particularly those small vendors who find themselves in competition with sellers of the cut price illicit product.

Chair of the Committee Mr Kevin Hogan MP said that the Australian Taxation Office is currently working to produce a ‘credible tax gap estimate’ resulting from unpaid tobacco import duties. While the size of the illicit trade is debated, the Australian Border Force’s Tobacco Strike Team has had estimates that the annual revenue loss could be very significant—around $4 billion, or 28 percent of the total tobacco market.

Mr Hogan said that while the Committee is not intending to review Government regulation of the tobacco trade, it is interested in the impact of illicit sales on retailers and how the funds from the trade can feed into cash activity, tax avoidance and its associations with organised crime. 

“The connection between the cash economy and criminal activity is an ongoing challenge for the Australian Tax Office and a concern to the Committee. The removal of certain note denominations and increased enforcement action are potential responses to the problem,” Mr Hogan said.

“The Committee will also want to hear how small business operators end up in the cash economy, and whether tax reforms or improved services could help them better manage cash flow issues and avoid tax debts.”

Public hearing details: 

4.15 pm to 5.30 pm, Wednesday 25 October 2017
Committee Room 1R2, Parliament House, Canberra 

The proceedings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live 

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. Click on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button in the bottom right hand corner and use the forms to login to My Parliament or to register for a My Parliament account.

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AUSTRALIAN cities need Metropolitan Planning Authorities to drive strategic land use planning and the development of transformative transport infrastructure, according to the Bus Industry Confederation.

The Confederation will advocate for the introduction of Metropolitan Planning Authorities when it appears before the Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities at a public hearing for an inquiry into the development of cities in Canberra tomorrow.

Committee Chair, John Alexander OAM MP, said the Committee has been grappling with how best to align Australia’s three levels of government to drive the development of more productive, environmentally and socially sustainable cities.

“Australian cities are becoming more and more complex. Many of the concerns we have about our cities, such as traffic congestion, social exclusion and high carbon emissions cannot be effectively addressed without an integrated, system-wide response,” Mr Alexander said.

“We need to identify the best way of aligning federal, state and local governments, and the different public service entities at each level of government, to pursue shared objectives for our cities.”

The Bus Industry Confederation suggested that the difficulties Australian cities have in establishing and pursuing integrated, strategic cities policy is partly a function of the nation’s adversarial political environment. 

“The international examples … suggest that high levels of community engagement in setting a vision and goals for a city and in determining long term strategic development directions provide buy-in to support long term bipartisan approaches,” the Confederation said.

“They also suggest that local government can play a useful role in achieving community buy-in, if it can think regionally (beyond its own patch).”

“Establishment of Metropolitan Planning Authorities for each of our capital cities … where board membership is split equally between representatives of state government and local government, should be supportive of better planning and deliver better outcomes.”

Public hearing details: 

 5.00 pm – 6.30 pm, Tuesday 24 October 2017
Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra

5.00 pm: Bus Industry Confederation
6.30 pm: Close
 

The proceedings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Further information on the inquiry, including the full terms of reference, is available on the Committee website.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has today released its submission to the Attorney General’s Departmental Review on the Modern Slavery in Supply Chains Reporting Requirement. 

This follows the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia.

According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, modern slavery is estimated to affect 45.8 million people across the world.  The complex and interconnected nature of many supply chains can cause major headaches for retailers when trying to eliminate unethical practices.

The Inquiry is investigating whether to introduce a mandatory reporting requirement for businesses and organisations with turnover exceeding $100 million annually.  Businesses would be required to investigate their supply chains and report on their efforts to stamp out instances of modern slavery.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the ARA had been undertaking comprehensive consultations with major retailers on how best to make both existing and new reporting guidelines meet community expectations.

Mr Zimmerman said many retailers already employed Ethical Sourcing Guidelines and were passionate about eliminating modern slavery from their supply chains.

“A collective approach will make a bigger impact, making it far easier for individual organisations to address instances of modern slavery in their supply chains,” Mr Zimmerman said.

However, Mr Zimmerman cautioned against imposing strict reporting requirements and said that any new regulations should be light-touch and flexible to encourage best practice across the industry.

“We believe a competitive, market-based approach to investigating and stopping modern slavery will produce better results, encouraging a ‘race-to-the-top’ mentality amongst retailers,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“We would also like to see further clarity for retailers and other organisations, including for concession retailers and resellers, as well as the financial impact of the extensive auditing which will be required to satisfy the reporting obligations.”

The ARA has been passionately working on modern slavery in recent months, hosting a series of roundtable discussions with retailers, universities and key stakeholders, alongside working with the Inquiry.

Mr Zimmerman called on the Inquiry to provide support and guidance to help retailers better-understand where modern slavery occurs in their supply chains and how best to address it.

To view the ARA’s submission on Modern Slavery in Supply Chains, click here.

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $310 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 7,500 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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