TRANSCRIPT - DOORSTOP PRESS CONFERENCE - MORNINGTON, HOBART

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP PRESS CONFERENCE
MORNINGTON, HOBART
FRIDAY, 22 MAY 2026

SUBJECTS: Extending the Right to Repair framework to agricultural machinery

ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, ANDREW LEIGH: Thank you for joining us today. My name is Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Competition. When Labor came to office, independent mechanics didn’t have access to the data they needed to fix modern cars. That changed with the introduction in July 2022 of the Motor Vehicle Information Sharing Scheme, That has created $2.4 billion a year in additional value. Much of it comes from independent mechanics like this one. Cooper Automotive, which is able to fix modern cars by getting access to the onboard computer data. We've also seen huge benefits for consumers. Independent mechanics tend to be a whole lot cheaper than the authorised dealer, and that gives more choice to consumers, particularly in regional areas.

What Julie and I are announcing today is the next stage in the Motor Vehicle Information Sharing Scheme. We're looking at how we can expand it to agricultural machinery, to tractors, harvesters and roll out more information that allows farmers to get that machinery fixed. Now for a motorist, having a car break down can be frustrating. But for farmers, this can cost thousands of dollars a day in lost productivity as a harvester isn't able to work when you need it most.

The estimate we've seen is that just in the grain sector, extending Right to Repair to agricultural machinery could be worth $97 million a year. Also announcing additional steps for motorists, particularly access to electronic logbooks, because right now there hasn't been the proper access to electronic logbooks that allows independent mechanics to record when they've done the work. And there'll be other tidy-up issues, such as better access to third party data brokers. I'll hand over now to Agriculture Minister Julie Collins.

MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, JULIE COLLINS: Thanks Andrew. This is great news for farmers who have been calling for the extension of Right to Repair to farm machinery for some time. So, this discussion paper will go out and we'll close on 3 July 2026 and we’ll be listening to feedback about just how extensive this does need to be extended, what type of farm machinery equipment.

But as we've indicated, when you're out on farm and something breaks down you don't have a lot of options when it comes to repairs. So being able to have more options and more independent options is really important for farmers and we’ll be putting money back in the farmers’ pockets, which means cheaper produce and cheaper prices for all of us.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF TASFARMERS, NEIL GROSE: For farmers this is all about choice and all about the freedom of choosing who you need to get your machinery fixed with. Farmers have got a lot of loyalty around their existing providers of servicing equipment but it provides a lot of opportunity like, as the Minister said, if something's broken down – you need to get it fixed as quickly and efficiently as possible. What it also does, is it opens up a lot of opportunity in regional areas like Scottsdale or Smithton or other areas where independent mechanics who have the skills can now offer that service to farmers in their area. It's quite often what we say is servicing requires a lot of travel from existing areas. If that can be done within the local area, with local team members, with local entrepreneurs so much the better for farmers and for the local regional economies.

JOURNALIST: If one of your pieces of machinery breaks down how much out of pocket would that put you?

NEIL GROSE: That can be thousands of dollars a day. If you think about the potato harvest which is currently underway, a potato harvester breaking down at the moment can mean loss of revenue of thousands of tons of potato, but it can also upset the flow of product into the factory as well so it's not just on farm, it's got the flow on effect as well. It's really important that we get that machinery fixed as quickly and efficiently and as cheaply as possible.

JOURNALIST: We know how much farmers have been impacted by the fuel crisis. Does this help alleviate some of that pressure in the back of the mind?

NEIL GROSE: Every little bit helps. I mean, fuel prices have been increasing astronomically. They've plateaued a bit, but it still puts a lot of pressure on farmers. Farmers are working on fixed contract prices, so their contracts were fixed when diesel was $1.50 a litre and now we're talking up to $2.30 a litre. So any opportunity we have to make things better for farmers is always better.

JOURNALIST: And in terms of the consultation process, what are you hearing from your farmers that they will put forward?

NEIL GROSE: I think organisations like TasFarmers will respond on behalf of farmers. I will talk to our members and our committees and councils and put forward a detailed submission to government around what the opportunities are, what we need to do, what we need to avoid and get on with it like that.

JOURNALIST: Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh, thanks for joining the Country Hour. Tell me, one thing that farmers are wondering about is why this has taken so long to get to this point with farm machinery?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: One of the things we looked at initially was whether a voluntary code might be a tenable way of finding a path through and it's been clear that a voluntary code hasn't been able to be stood up and so the Government's now looking to enact to the mandatory code.

JOURNALIST: So what's the problem there? Have you had trouble getting some of the companies to play ball?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: Well, the engagement that we've had with farmers has suggested that this hasn't been a solution that I've seen working for them. There's always a spectrum of data that's available. Manufacturers will share some data but haven't been sharing the data that agricultural mechanics say they need.

JOURNALIST: So there are concerns that data sharing and just getting that information from some of the big companies would be difficult?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: Absolutely. Modern cars are computers on wheels and that's also true of the modern harvester. These are extraordinarily expensive pieces of machinery costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, in some cases. A lot of onboard computers and if you don't have access to the software updates then it's very difficult to be able to fix a modern harvester.

JOURNALIST: Has there actually been some push back from some of the large machinery manufacturers, like John Deere, about being included in the right to repair laws?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: Look we haven't seen it at this stage. Everyone's welcome to contribute to the discussion paper Minister Collins mentioned before. The government very much looks forward to a constructive conversation. We worked very constructively with manufacturers, both in the work the previous government did and the work that our government did after coming to office with the car manufacturers. I'm hoping it's possible to land something similar with agricultural manufacturers.

JOURNALIST: Well it came in for the automotive industry in 2022. Now, four years later, we're still waiting and how long are we going to wait now?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: Look, we're hoping to move swiftly with this. The consultation period is just six weeks, which is prompt consultation which will allow everyone to have their say and allow us to move speedily forward.

JOURNALIST: Do you have a timeframe for the legislation?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: Not immediately. There's obviously a packed legislative timeframe for the government and so we'll do that discussion first and then we'll move to legislative steps.

JOURNALIST: What do you think practically it'll look like, this legislation? What do you want to see? How far will it go?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: Well we've got the template of the Motor Vehicle Information Sharing Scheme so really we'll be building on that template and extending it to new pieces of machinery, tractors, harvesters, seeders, and the like.

JOURNALIST: Is it about also defining things like repair versus modification and setting those guidelines with the manufacturers

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: Absolutely. But again, the template is there with the Motor Vehicle Information Sharing Scheme. This is extending it to new pieces of machinery.

JOURNALIST: Is it likely to have costs for farmers to access this sort of data and information?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: The costs are reasonable commercial rates. That's how independent mechanics currently operate with data to fix cars. I envisage a similar scheme would operate for agricultural machinery.

JOURNALIST: Do you see that it would involve training as well, training for places like this? We’re at an automotive place at the moment. I'm sure there's lots to learn about agricultural machinery?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: Absolutely, and of course Cooper Automative is already fixing some pieces of agricultural machinery. This will allow them to fix more.

JOURNALIST: And how will farmers’ voices been weighted against some of these big manufacturers?

ASSISTANT MINISTER LEIGH: This government takes farmers very seriously and engages extensively with them. I don't think we've had an Agriculture Minister who is as deeply engaged with farmers as Julie Collins. Her voice has been strong in advocating this reform and farmers will be listened to.

JOURNALIST: Thank you very much. Julie Collins, Agricultural Minister. Thanks for joining the Country Hour. Have you heard much from farmers about this? How big an issue it is?

MINISTER COLLINS: Well certainly we have heard from farmers that it’s important to them that they have more options particularly in regional areas where there are not so many options and they need to get their machinery up and running much more quickly than they have been able to.

JOURNALIST: Okay and you’ll back getting this done as soon as possible?

MINISTER COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely and I'll continue to work with Assistant Minister Leigh to make sure that we get this off as quickly as we can. But clearly, we do need to consult. We need to make sure we get it right as well, so we’ll do that.

JOURNALIST: So what do you say to farmers?

MINISTER COLLINS: What I’ll say to them is we’ll be working diligently, we’ll be working as quickly as we can through this and we'll be able to make announcements hopefully in the coming months.

JOURNALIST: So, hang in there?

MINISTER COLLINS: Absolutely. We’re taking this very seriously. We're taking the time to get it right.

JOURNALIST: I'm just going cross now to Neil Grose who is with TasFarmers and representing all farmers here today. Mr Grose, thanks for joining the Country Hour. Good news?

NEIL GROSE: Yeah, it is good news. Anything that makes the life of farmers easier is always going to be better. I mean, it has taken some time to get here, but it is critical to get it right. The only thing worse than a slow piece of legislation is a bad piece of legislation. So, it's really important that we get it right.

We've got a good avenue of communication with the federal Minister. So, the thoughts and sentiments of farmers around this will be very loud and clear. It's a move in the right direction. Yeah it's taken a bit of time, but we're just getting on with it.

JOURNALIST: What do you see or what do you hear from farmers that they're really keen to get their hands on and get moving with?

NEIL GROSE: I think it's all about putting a bit of competitive cost back into getting things repaired. Quite often when machinery breaks down time is critical, so you need it done as quickly as possible. Sometimes with some service centres being quite remote from where farming is taking place it does take time. And there is the cost to farmers where the service mechanics they're charging it at full right from the minute they leave the depot rather than when they actually start work. If we can establish mechanical capability in the regions then that'll make it better for farmers, to make it more timely, and it'll keep a lid on these ever escalating costs.

JOURNALIST: Are you concerned at all about getting that access to the right parts? The right data?

NEIL GROSE: No, not at all. Because the main manufacturers have a lot of loyalty to farmers and farmers have that loyalty too. But it's going to be up to those manufacturers to look after the farmers and make sure they get their bits and pieces…

JOURNALIST: You say they have loyalty, but they're not going to consider a voluntary scheme or they're not going to work with a voluntary scheme by the sounds of it?

NEIL GROSE: Well, if that can be encouraged through legislation to participate, that's good. But what I was going to say is that it's in the best interests of manufacturers to support this scheme, because after all, it's the farmers who are buying their equipment.

JOURNALIST: Alright. Neil Grose from TasFarmers, thanks for joining the Country Hour.