Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

How extraordinary that the government has denied me leave to table this letter. So I will put it on the record that I will ensure that every word of this letter gets read into the Hansard of the Senate over the coming sitting days, which will, of course, take us into the next calendar year. I will take every opportunity to make sure that every word of this letter is placed on the record of the Senate because, as the former small business minister Mr Billson said in relation to Professor Harper's recommendation to introduce an effects test in Australia:

If there is no change then that will be a triumph of lobbying over logic.

It would be a triumph of back-room political machinations over good economic policy-making for our country.

Heavily vested interests have campaigned against this change with all their vigour.

They have campaigned against this change with all their vigour and one of the heavily vested interests is the membership body of the Business Council of Australia, who wrote this letter to every cabinet minister on 25 August—I understand just before cabinet was due to consider matters associated with the Harper review, including the introduction of an effects test in this country. I will make sure that that letter gets placed on the record over the coming sitting days of the Senate.

It is worth pointing out that the new Treasurer, who has carefully cultivated a tough guy image in public through his previous portfolios, announced last week that the government was going to squib on the effects test and announced yet another consultation process around an effects test. Remember, we have already had the Harper review, one of the most comprehensive reviews of competition policy in Australia's history. It unambiguously recommended the introduction of an effects test in Australia and unambiguously recommended how section 46 of the relevant legislation might be amended to deliver such an effects test.

We have had that comprehensive review, and what do we have from this government, who say they are all about innovation, who say they are all about growth, who say they are all about creating jobs and delivering outcomes for people through stimulating the economy? They have squibbed on delivering a level playing field for all businesses in Australia, because that is what an effects test would do. So it appears that there is a very narrow section of this debate, the BCA and their cabinet mates, who think that the sensible reform of an effects test will somehow bring on the death of competition and, for all I know, the end of life on earth as we know it.

This squibbing of the effects test by Treasurer Morrison and his current cabinet colleagues is clearly an attempt to kick this issue out beyond the next election. Well, the Greens will not allow this issue to go quietly into the night. We will continue to campaign and advocate for a fair go for all Australian businesses, a fair go for those businesses who feel that they have been subject to the unfair application of market power in this country, often by big businesses in Australia.

Former small business minister Bruce Billson belled the cat. He correctly pointed out that there has not been any evidence offered to support the BCA's claims and that it is simply an attempt by dominant market players to fortify their commercial positions. That is absolutely what Australia is facing here and what we are having to deal with. This has been a triumph of lobbying over logic. It has been a triumph of backroom political machinations over good economic policymaking for our country. The Greens will not allow this issue to be led quietly into the night by a government who have squibbed it on the behest of the BCA.