Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, in the light of the Deputy Prime Minister’s claim that the problems of ABC Learning are a result of ‘letting the market rip’ and given that there is no suggestion that the growth of the company breached the Trade Practices Act, what changes to the Trade Practices Act does the Prime Minister propose to introduce to place further restrictions on market forces?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for North Sydney for his question, and it goes to how we ended up in a situation where one company had 25 per cent of market share. That is what is at stake here. It is a very big public policy question. How did we end up in a situation where one company with 25 per cent of market share could be responsible—

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Dutton interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Dickson.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think that the member for Dickson protests too much! When you have a company like that, with 25 per cent of market share for long-day places in Australia, there is a problem for mums and dads right across the nation if something goes wrong for that single provider. That is the problem we face. It is a problem of market concentration. I would therefore suggest to the honourable member for North Sydney when he raises this question that he direct his thoughts and his sentiments to the mums and dads out there now desperately anxious about making sure they have got a place to send their kids at the beginning of next year.

The Deputy Prime Minister has acted entirely appropriately in taking decisive action to make sure that we provide for those centres to remain open through December so that kids will not be left in the immediate lurch. That was the danger we faced quite recently. The Deputy Prime Minister acted entirely appropriately. How would you feel if you had to front on Monday with no certainty of where your kids could go to child care? The impact it would have on people’s ability to conduct their normal lives, to go to work and earn a living would be enormous. The action taken by the Deputy Prime Minister was entirely appropriate.

The policy question which forms the basis of the member for North Sydney’s question is one which we will deliberate on in the future. But can I say this about the level of market concentration: it was monstrously irresponsible of the previous government to allow this state of affairs to occur because of the direct consequence of this level of market concentration on such a large number of kids, mums and dads across Australia should something go wrong with a single company. Something has gone wrong with that single company. We are dealing with the mess that we have been left by those opposite. We will deal with the competition policy questions and other market concentration questions once we are through the current mess.