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

On my first, limited contribution to the debate on the Petroleum Retail Legislation Repeal Bill 2006 I spoke about the first aspect of Labor’s amendments. Those amendments were designed to restore the Trade Practices Act to its former glory and in particular to provide the ACCC with the capacity to show, firstly, that a firm has a substantial degree of market power and, secondly, that it has taken advantage of that market power. The second tranche of my amendments are just as important. They provide the power to either house of this parliament or to any committee of this parliament to refer to the ACCC the power it requires to undertake formal monitoring of prices in any market. However, my amendments are about the petroleum retail market.

We have been calling upon the Treasurer for weeks now to pick up a pen and a piece of paper and to simply write to the Chairman of the ACCC, Graeme Samuel, to provide him with the powers that he requires to formally monitor petrol prices and to demand from oil companies, or any other retailers or wholesalers, the information he needs to determine whether price gouging is taking place. It is not a big thing to ask. We do not understand why he will not do it—whether he is protecting someone, whether he does not want a particular company or companies exposed or whether he will not do it simply because it was the opposition’s idea. I am not sure which of those it is. It will not cost him anything. It is not a difficult thing to do, and he has plenty of support staff—in fact, I wrote the letter for him and invited him to put it on his letterhead, sign it and send it off. But he refused to do so.

The question has to be asked: why do we want the Treasurer to solely hold the power to make these decisions? I can understand why the legislature, in the beginning, wanted to put in some protection and to not allow the ACCC chairman to act alone to decide at any time that he will have an inquiry into someone or something. You can understand the legislature wanting safeguards, which is why the opposition have resisted the temptation to simply give the chairman the power to run off and have an inquiry into any matter he wants or to demand information from any company because it suits him. But at the same time, we do not believe it should be the sole domain of the Treasurer. We believe that if a house of this parliament or a committee of this parliament has formed the view that there is something not quite right in any particular market—and in this instance we have petrol in mind—that committee or that house of the parliament should be able to refer that power to the chairman. It is a simple proposition and it is a responsible proposition.

If we had suggested that the chairman should have that power without it being referred, the government would have had an opportunity to put up an argument and to oppose us. But it cannot argue against this proposition that we have put forward. How can the government possibly argue that a house of this place or a committee of this place should not have the power, having heard the evidence, to refer to the chairman of the ACCC that power? There is plenty of reason to refer the power. The evidence is not conclusive but there is plenty of evidence in the petroleum retail market that something is not quite right.

Every motorist in this country instinctively believes as they watch the weekly price cycle that something is not right. In the end it might not be proven, but let us have the inquiry. Let us give the ACCC chairman the power not just to look at retail prices. We can all look at the price board and form our own opinion about what petrol prices are doing, but it does not tell us anything about what is happening along the value chain. It does not tell us anything about what is happening to wholesale prices or to terminal gate prices. It does not tell us anything.

The ACCC chairman needs to look not just at the prices but behind the prices. How disappointing was it when the Prime Minister came in here with his great illusion this week—with great fanfare—to announce his energy policy? He could not even swallow his pride and say: ‘I think the opposition and the Independents have it right. It is time to give the ACCC chairman the chance he requires to potentially have an immediate impact on petrol prices and to finally give motorists and their families and business some relief from spiralling petrol prices. (Time expired)

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