George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I will take your interjection, Senator Conroy. As you may be aware, section 46 of what was the Trade Practices Act—now the Competition and Consumer Act—is something about which I have been engaged in discussion for the best part of a quarter of a century, and I am bound to say, Senator Conroy, that I have never seen a better discussion of the important policy issues raised as in the discussion we had in cabinet. The Prime Minister was asked about this yesterday in his press conference, and he said:

Let me say that we do have lots of lawyers in the cabinet and all I can tell you without breaching cabinet secrecy is that the discussion was extremely erudite and I was very proud to be the leader of such a fine and thoughtful and well-schooled group of men and women.

And we have landed in the right place because, unlike the Australian Labor Party, who finds it incapable even to think about reforming section 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act, the cabinet adopted a recommendation by Professor Harper, one of the acknowledged experts in the field; endorsed by Professor Allan Fels, a former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; endorsed by the current chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Mr Sims; and endorsed by Professor Miller, one of the acknowledged academic specialists in the field, which rebalances section 46 to protect the legitimate interests of consumers and business and protects the competitive process.