Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

At the outset I would like to thank those members who have contributed to the debate on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Fair Go for Consumers and Small Business) Bill 2024, including the members for Mayo, Moreton, Wentworth, Werriwa, Warringah, Lyons and Hume.

Competition policy has been front and centre in the public debate over recent months. The Albanese government has been concerned to ensure that our competition settings are fit for purpose. Competition reform is vital to boosting productivity. In the early 1990s, reforms kicked off by Prime Minister Paul Keating and competition expert Fred Hilmer led to cooperation with the states and territories which ultimately boosted living standards, producing a permanent 2½ per cent lift in GDP. That translates to something in the order of $5,000 for the typical Australian household in today's terms. So competition reform is a big deal. Getting competition right is good for consumers, it's good for employees and it's good for innovation.

Since coming to office, we've increased penalties for anti-competitive conduct and we've banned unfair contract terms. We've set up a competition taskforce in Treasury, not aimed at producing a doorstopper report in years to come but at producing actionable reforms straightaway. The Treasurer has tasked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission with looking at issues in the supermarket sector. We've brought in Craig Emerson, one of the great policy economists in Australia, to review the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, looking at questions such as whether that code should be made mandatory. These are all part of our ambitious competition reform agenda, as is the bill before the House today.

This bill has been welcomed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, who said in her statement:

A number of our successful compliance and enforcement outcomes have come about from referrals to us by consumer or small business advocacy groups, so we welcome this proposed measure that will provide an official avenue for this information.

We consider it will reinforce public confidence in the responsiveness of the ACCC to the competition, consumer and fair trading issues significantly impacting the community.

The bill establishes a designated complaints function within the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The bill will give the minister the ability to appoint consumer and small business advocates as designated complainants and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will be required to assess and respond to complaints raised by these advocacy groups which relate to significant or systemic market issues. As the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission noted in their statement, a similar mechanism already applies in Britain and Canada. If the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission proposes to act on a designated complaint, it must commence that action as soon as practical and within six months. Any response by the competition watchdog will be based on their existing powers and functions under the act, and may include education, research, or compliance and enforcement functions. If this bill is passed, the government will proceed to identifying suitable consumer and small business groups to act as designated complainants.

In closing, I would like to thank my staff, particularly Tori Barker; officials in the Department of the Treasury, particularly the consumer policy and Law Division teams; the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for their hard work on the bill. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context