Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer. Will the minister advise the House how the government is supporting the small businesses of Australia? How has the government's policy to improve competition and address the problem of misuse of market power been received by the community?

Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to very much thank the member for Corangamite for her question. She is indeed an incredibly powerful advocate for the more than 11,700 small businesses in her community and the many thousands of people that they employ. She has been a powerful advocate as well in this place for the strengthening of protections against anticompetitive conduct. That is what we announced in this place yesterday: the strengthening of the misuse of market power provisions. It has been received with almost universal acclaim. Let me quote. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in their heading to their press release yesterday, 'Fixing section 46 a triumph for sound policy'. The press release said:

... fixing section 46 will promote merit-based competition.

The consumer group Choice said:

The changes to the law will fix section 46 of the Act to put consumer welfare at its heart ...

They went on to say:

When there is effective competition in any market, this is good for consumers. In the best circumstances, it means more options and lower prices ...

There Australian Industry Group said:

The federal government's decision to adopt an ethics test is rightly focused on protecting the competitive process rather than on protecting individual competitors. This focus is critical if we are to lift our emphasis on innovation and to encourage investment by business of all sizes.

One might wonder why it is that those opposite do not support free enterprise, do not support small business, do not support innovation and do not support the strengthening of competition laws.

Peter Strong, a ferocious campaigner for small business and CEO of the Council of Small Business Australia, said on radio this morning that he had a bit of an idea as to why they might have this view. He blamed the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association, the SDA, with which, he said, those opposite have a very cosy relationship, and also with big supermarkets. He said: 'They write the policy on competition for the Labor Party, and it has been like this for a while. I think in Latham's first book one of the comments he made was that he was trying to change competition policy and the comment was made that he can't do it because the SDA won't like it.' He went on to say: 'They are very powerful. One in 10 union members in Australia are in that union and they've got a lot of money that goes to the Labor Party. So we've been fighting them decades and yesterday we had a win.' Mr Strong is right. Yesterday, small business had a win. Yesterday, Australia had a win. Yesterday, competition policy was strengthened, and it was the result of this side of the House.