Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move Australian Greens amendments (7) to (15) on sheet 7006 together:

(7)    Schedule 1, item 30, page 26 (after line 24), after subsection 577BC(5), insert:

Consultation

     (5A)    Before making an instrument under subsection (3) or (4), the Minister must:

             (a)    cause to be published on the Department’s website a notice:

                   (i)    setting out the proposed instrument; and

                  (ii)    inviting persons to make submissions to the Minister about the proposed instrument within 14 days after the notice is published; and

             (b)    cause to be published on the Department’s website a copy of each submission received within the 14-day period mentioned in paragraph (a); and

             (c)    consider any submissions received within the 14-day period mentioned in paragraph (a).

(8)    Schedule 1, item 30, page 36 (after line 4), after subsection 577C(1), insert:

     (1A)    In deciding whether to accept an undertaking under subsection (1), the ACCC must have regard to:

             (a)    the matters (if any) set out in an instrument in force under subsection (1B); and

             (b)    such other matters (if any) as the ACCC considers relevant.

      (1B)    The Minister may, by writing, set out matters for the purposes of paragraph (1A)(a).

      (1C)    Before making or varying an instrument under subsection (1B), the Minister must:

             (a)    cause to be published on the Department’s website a notice:

                   (i)    setting out the draft instrument or variation; and

                  (ii)    inviting persons to make submissions to the Minister about the draft instrument or variation within 14 days after the notice is published; and

             (b)    consider any submissions received within the 14-day period mentioned in paragraph (a).

(9)    Schedule 1, item 30, page 36 (after line 14), at the end of section 577C, add:

        (7)    The Minister must cause a copy of an instrument under subsection (1B) to be published on the Department’s website.

        (8)    An instrument under subsection (1B) is not a legislative instrument.

(10)  Schedule 1, item 30, page 40 (after line 1), after subsection 577D(3), insert:

     (3A)    In deciding whether to accept the variation, the ACCC must have regard to:

             (a)    the matters (if any) set out in an instrument in force under subsection (3B); and

             (b)    such other matters (if any) as the ACCC considers relevant.

      (3B)    The Minister may, by writing, set out matters for the purposes of paragraph (3A)(a).

      (3C)    Before making or varying an instrument under subsection (3B), the Minister must:

             (a)    cause to be published on the Department’s website a notice:

                   (i)    setting out the draft instrument or variation; and

                  (ii)    inviting persons to make submissions to the Minister about the draft instrument or variation within 14 days after the notice is published; and

             (b)    consider any submissions received within the 14-day period mentioned in paragraph (a).

(11)  Schedule 1, item 30, page 40 (after line 4), at the end of section 577D, add:

        (6)    The Minister must cause a copy of an instrument under subsection (3B) to be published on the Department’s website.

        (7)    An instrument under subsection (3B) is not a legislative instrument.

(12)  Schedule 1, item 30, page 40 (after line 15), after subsection 577E(1), insert:

     (1A)    In deciding whether to accept an undertaking under subsection (1), the ACCC must have regard to:

             (a)    the matters (if any) set out in an instrument in force under subsection (1B); and

             (b)    such other matters (if any) as the ACCC considers relevant.

      (1B)    The Minister may, by writing, set out matters for the purposes of paragraph (1A)(a).

      (1C)    Before making or varying an instrument under subsection (1B), the Minister must:

             (a)    cause to be published on the Department’s website a notice:

                   (i)    setting out the draft instrument or variation; and

                  (ii)    inviting persons to make submissions to the Minister about the draft instrument or variation within 14 days after the notice is published; and

             (b)    consider any submissions received within the 14-day period mentioned in paragraph (a).

(13)  Schedule 1, item 30, page 40 (after line 29), at the end of section 577E, add:

        (7)    The Minister must cause a copy of an instrument under subsection (1B) to be published on the Department’s website.

        (8)    An instrument under subsection (1B) is not a legislative instrument.

(14)  Schedule 1, item 30, page 44 (after line 21), after subsection 577F(3), insert:

     (3A)    In deciding whether to accept the variation, the ACCC must have regard to:

             (a)    the matters (if any) set out in an instrument in force under subsection (3B); and

             (b)    such other matters (if any) as the ACCC considers relevant.

      (3B)    The Minister may, by writing, set out matters for the purposes of paragraph (3A)(a).

      (3C)    Before making or varying an instrument under subsection (3B), the Minister must:

             (a)    cause to be published on the Department’s website a notice:

                   (i)    setting out the draft instrument or variation; and

                  (ii)    inviting persons to make submissions to the Minister about the draft instrument or variation within 14 days after the notice is published; and

             (b)    consider any submissions received within the 14-day period mentioned in paragraph (a).

(15)  Schedule 1, item 30, page 44 (after line 24), at the end of section 577F, add:

        (6)    The Minister must cause a copy of an instrument under subsection (3B) to be published on the Department’s website.

        (7)    An instrument under subsection (3B) is not a legislative instrument.

I indicate at this stage that Senator Xenophon will probably seek to add his name to these amendments. They are very similar—in most cases, I think, they are identical—to the amendments that Senator Xenophon withdrew a short time ago, so they are effectively trying to achieve much the same thing. The bill was fairly prescriptive with regard to the obligations of various parties in the event that Telstra pursues functional separation, but obligations of the minister under a structurally separated model are much less prescriptive and actually leave quite wide discretion. In many cases they are quite opaque, and it would be very difficult for the public or other players in the industry to tell what was going on. At the very least, stakeholders should be given the opportunity to consult on the draft determination and its various components, having the ACCC call for submissions and placing them in the public domain.

Our amendments, which I sought leave to move in a batch, open a series of windows on the process, providing for publication of draft documents on the department’s website, including the structural separation undertaking itself—which is covered by amendments (3) and (6)—the migration plan, the hybrid fibre-coaxial undertaking and the pay-TV undertaking. So that takes us right through the batch of amendments that I have just sought leave to roll together. In all instances, draft instruments are to be posted on the department’s website, and 14-day submission periods are mandated for each form of undertaking.

I acknowledge that this does not go as far as the coalition’s foreshadowed amendments, which sought to make some of those instruments disallowable and subject to continued intervention by the ACCC. We have had a fair bit of back and forth tonight about the coalition’s proposals and how they do differ from what the Australian Greens have sought to do. We believe that these amendments provide a greater degree of transparency without actually providing those points of intervention whereby the process could be wrecked, or at least derailed, for substantial periods of time. I commend those amendments to the chamber.