Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Labor won't be supporting this part of the Nick Xenophon Team's amendment. We note that the divestiture provisions are an extension of comments Senator Xenophon has made in the past.

The potential for repeat offenders of anticompetitive conduct is certainly a concern Labor shares. Labor has a proposed reformulation of how base penalties under the Competition and Consumer Act are calculated. We took that to the last election and we have recommitted ourselves to it.

Labor has proposed that Australia adopt a European Union-type penalty system for anticompetitive conduct, which is based on 30 per cent of the annual sales of the relevant product or service multiplied by the number of years the infringement took place, capped at 10 per cent of annual turnover. This would have both a punitive effect on culprits and a disincentive effect on potential culprits. We also note that this is a considerable departure from the status of the Competition and Consumer Act and that the amendment itself would warrant further scrutiny. A divestiture power that judges may apply would be a change to Australian competition laws on a large scale. As such, the measure itself would need to be considered on its own merits rather than in tandem with the proposed effects test. Normally a measure of this scale would be better suited to an in-depth inquiry conducted by a body such as the Productivity Commission. Further to that, drafting would require extensive consultation with extensive stakeholder collaboration. We won't be supporting this section of Senator Xenophon's amendment tonight.