Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

in reply—I would like to thank honourable members who have taken part in the debate on the Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Bill 2009 and I would like to thank members for the spirit in which they have engaged in the debate. I think it has been a constructive debate on both sides on a very important policy initiative.

On 2 October 2008, the Council of Australian Governments reached a historic agreement to create a single national generic consumer protection law to be called the Australian Consumer Law. The bill is the first legislative step to give effect to COAG’s agreement. It will implement key elements of the Australian Consumer Law, including a new national unfair contract terms law and new penalties, enforcement powers and options for consumer redress for the ACCC and ASIC. Attempts to create a single consumer law have been made in the past and they have a sorry history. Most notably, in the early 1980s the federal, state and territory governments agreed to create harmonised consumer protection laws. This initiative succeeded in creating harmonised laws for a time, but consistency was all too soon lost as individual jurisdictions amended and augmented their laws over time.

COAG’s decision of 2008 differs from previous attempts at harmonisation in that it establishes an application legislation regime. This means that amendments to the Commonwealth’s consumer protection legislation will automatically apply in all states and territories. In addition, all jurisdictions have agreed to be bound by the intergovernmental agreement for the Australian Consumer Law which sets out the manner in which changes to the Consumer Law will be made in the future. COAG made this intergovernmental agreement at its meeting of 2 July 2009.

On 25 June 2009, the bill was referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Economics for inquiry and report. In the course of its inquiry, the committee received 58 public submissions and held public hearings in Canberra and Sydney, reflecting the strong interest in this legislation from businesses and consumers. The committee tabled its report on the provisions of the bill on 7 September 2009. The committee expressed strong support for the bill and recommended that the bill should be passed. I note that the coalition members of the committee have also recorded their broad support for the bill. In the report, the committee has also made recommendations in relation to the publication of guidelines by the ACCC and ASIC on the operation of the provisions of this bill and the coverage of the insurance contracts under the proposed national unfair contract terms law. The government will consider the committee’s findings and recommendations carefully prior to debate on the bill in the Senate.

I am pleased the opposition has expressed its broad support for the bill and I appreciate the input of opposition members in the debate and the constructive discussions we have had with the member for Cowper and also with Senator George Brandis with regard to some aspects of the legislation. The government will continue these discussions with the opposition and we will consider making amendments in the Senate. This bill represents an important milestone in achieving a lasting national consumer protection law. That said, the creation of a national unfair contract terms law and the strengthening of the enforcement regime for the consumer protection provisions of the Trade Practices Act are also worthy objectives in their own right.

The Australian Consumer Law reforms will be completed via a second bill to be introduced in early 2010. The second bill will include the national consumer product safety regulatory regime, as well as enhancements to the existing consumer protection regime, based on best practice among state and territory laws.

I thank my colleagues on the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs. I also want to take the opportunity to thank publicly in this chamber my colleague the previous competition policy minister, Chris Bowen, for all the work he has done on this, as well as the Business Regulation and Competition Working Group for their ongoing cooperation in achieving these major reforms.

I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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