Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Transport) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, it was. In relation to the competition model it was identical, word for word, with the Democrat motion that he supported. If the senator conveniently forgot that, I am here to remind him.

If we put up some serious concerns about his proposition and he cannot deal with them, so be it. But for him to castigate the Labor Party because we cannot vote for a proposition that demonstrably will not have the effect that he is talking about is just grandstanding. Senator Brown came into the chamber to take advantage of the fact that we were on broadcast. He made a contribution, but clearly he did not understand that the proposition that we were putting forward was about a volumetric control on the market, not a control on the number of sites. He changed that during his contribution, so I accept that he has corrected the way that he had approached the matter.

But, frankly, the Labor Party’s position on this legislation and on competition in this industry stands up to every bit of scrutiny. The fact that we do not put up a proposition of this nature because we think it is unworkable does not demonstrate that we do not think small business has a role in this industry. We think that small business has a role in this industry through a proper competition regime. That is why we put up the amendments that we put up. Those amendments are in many respects amendments which have been requested by the ACCC to give them a stronger hand to deal with the competitive regime. The government voted against them. Senator Joyce voted for them when they were moved by Senator Murray, which therefore demonstrates that, to that extent, he supported the Labor Party proposition. So it is a bit bizarre for him to suggest that we did not have a proposition in relation to competition to assist small business in the industry. If he wants to imagine that that is the situation, I cannot dictate what goes on in his head, but I am here to tell the Senate and the Australian public that it is a fantasy.