David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer ) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is just a shame they did not get the member for Mitchell to ask this one. The pamphlet that was enclosed in the letter that has been distributed to small businesses all around this country is a pamphlet that has the potential to mislead consumers. The ACCC has made it clear that businesses that jack up their prices and falsely blame the carbon price for those price increases may be subject to the provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act. The sanctions that apply to offences under that act include a fine of, in the case of individuals, up to $6,600 or, in the case of a corporation, $1.1 million. This is a very serious matter. The truth of this particular matter is that the Leader of the Opposition, in encouraging businesses to put up a pamphlet that suggests that any price increases that the businesses may pass on may in fact be a direct result of the carbon price, is potentially misleading. The ACCC has confirmed as much.

What is most important in relation to this matter is that the people who are likely to be in the firing line include, in fact, not the Leader of the Opposition—we know that he has been misleading at every stage of this debate—but the people who could unwittingly be drawn into this particular matter are those small businesses that may, if they act upon the advice of the Leader of the Opposition, put this pamphlet up in their window. If they increase prices by more than what is attributable to the carbon price, in those cases they may well be guilty of misleading their consumers.

We make no apologies on this side for standing up for the rights of consumers. We do not believe that it is appropriate for businesses to jack up their prices unfairly and to falsely blame that on the carbon price.

Mrs Mirabella interjecting—

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