Food and Beverage

This bill cuts red tape for Queensland's liquor and tourism industries and repeals 14 obsolete church and community organisation Acts. It lets craft breweries sell their beer at festivals and farmers markets, gives clubs, bed and breakfasts and campdrafting events more flexibility, and introduces a new approval process for liquor events held in pub car parks.

This bill sought to amend the Sugar Industry Act 1999 to require mandatory arbitration when sugar mill owners and sugar marketing entities cannot agree on 'on-supply' contracts for selling a grower's share of sugar. It aimed to give cane growers a genuine choice over who markets their sugar and ensure contracts are finalised before each crushing season. The bill failed at its third reading and did not become law.

This bill overhauls the governance of Queensland's Container Refund Scheme — the 10-cent bottle and can return program — following a parliamentary inquiry that found significant weaknesses in how the scheme is run. It gives the government much stronger oversight of the scheme coordinator (currently Container Exchange), requires an independent board majority, and expands the scheme's purpose to include supporting environmental and community programs.

This bill amends the Liquor Act 1992 to create a new artisan producer licence for Queensland's craft brewers and artisan distillers. It gives small, independent producers a tailored licensing framework with on-premises sales, takeaway, online ordering, and the ability to sell at promotional events like farmers markets. The reforms were developed under the Queensland Craft Brewing Strategy and accelerated by the impact of COVID-19 on the industry.

This bill does two things: it replaces Queensland's 1982 law for hospital foundations with a modern framework for how these charities support public hospitals, and it amends drug laws to let Queensland farmers grow low-THC hemp for food. The changes modernise foundation governance and open Queensland to the new national hemp food market starting 12 November 2017.

This bill aimed to give Burdekin cane growers supplying Wilmar Sugar another year under their existing supply contracts. It would have delayed new sugar marketing rules from applying until 1 July 2018 so Wilmar and Queensland Sugar Limited (QSL) had more time to finalise their on-supply deal. The bill was introduced by Mr Steve Dickson MP as a private member's bill and was later withdrawn, so it did not become law.

This bill amends the Sugar Industry Act 1999 so cane growers can choose who markets the sugar they have an economic interest in, and can take disputes with mill owners to arbitration. It was introduced by independent MP Shane Knuth and passed with amendments in 2015.

This bill modernises the governance of Queensland's 13 hospital foundations and opens up the industrial hemp industry to food production. It repeals the outdated Hospitals Foundations Act 1982 and replaces it with contemporary legislation, while also amending the Drugs Misuse Act 1986 to allow hemp seeds to be grown and processed for human consumption.

This bill creates the legal framework for Queensland's plastic shopping bag ban and container refund scheme, both starting 1 July 2018. It also strengthens the rules that govern when waste materials can be reused as resources.

This bill sought to strengthen Queensland's ethanol mandate, which has never been met since it was introduced in 2017. It would have doubled penalties for fuel retailers not selling enough ethanol-blended petrol and required that E10 fuel contain at least 9% ethanol rather than the federally permitted minimum of just 1%. The bill was defeated at second reading and did not become law.

This bill proposed a voluntary 'fair milk price logo' for fresh milk sold in Queensland, showing consumers that the farmer who produced the milk had been paid a fair price set by the government for their region. It was introduced by Katter's Australian Party MP Shane Knuth in response to the decline of Queensland dairy farming following supermarket $1-a-litre milk pricing. The bill failed at second reading and did not become law.

This bill changes six Queensland health laws at once. Its main change is a new menu labelling scheme that requires large fast-food chains, cafe and bakery chains and supermarkets to show kilojoule information on their menus. It also lets health authorities publicly name unsafe food businesses, makes it easier to fill temporary vacancies on health boards, gives registered midwives direct access to the Pap Smear Register, and clarifies that cord blood can be donated to stem-cell registries.