Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Small Business, Senator Sherry. South Australia’s Minister for Small Business, the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis, has recently announced that he will introduce a bill into state parliament imposing financial penalties for breaches of the Franchising Code of Conduct and a statutory duty of good faith in franchising relationships. These reforms are in line with the recommendations of three parliamentary inquiries into franchising by the Western Australian and South Australian parliaments and, most recently, the federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services in 2008. Therefore, will the minister indicate: when will the federal government adopt these two recommendations on a national level, and does he welcome the South Australian moves?