Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Revenue) Share this | Hansard source

Of course. Not only is it time that we should modernise the regulatory regime covering retail petrol but it is also time we modernise the Trade Practices Act. This is not something we have just created. The necessity to modernise the Trade Practices Act flows from a number of Federal Court and High Court decisions, each of which demonstrates that the legislature’s intention in designing and framing the Trade Practices Act has not been achieved. You will find that in the comments of the justices presiding in each of the cases, in particular as they relate to the test of substantial market power in the case of Boral. You will find it in the finding that a firm with market power has taken advantage of that market power in a case such as Safeway. This is clear.

I recall that the chairman of the ACCC at a recent Senate committee hearing on these issues himself agreed that the legislature’s intention in framing and putting through these acts of parliament in this place had not been achieved. But this is not just about petrol retailing, as important as that is. It is about protecting small business in a range of sectors from larger predators and it is about protecting consumers from the consequences of the antics of those larger predators.

The world has moved on substantially, but some things always remain the same. In an industrial agreement, the bargaining power between an employer and an employee will never be equal and the same applies to small business. A small business can compete with a larger retailer on a level playing field, but if the larger competitor is willing—and they are in the minority—to misuse his market power then it is not on a level playing field. It is bad for small business and it is bad for the consumer. I challenge the government on this occasion to get up today and support Labor’s amendments.

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