Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

Those people who are looking at my face might sense a bit of disappointment, although I do thank Senator Cox and Senator Brockman for their contributions. This was an opportunity to rise above all of the noise and all of the discussion that has dominated our media and dominated this place over the last few weeks and provide a concrete course of action to do two things: protect consumers and protect competition. I thank Senator Cox for her remarks and I thank Senator Brockman for his remarks.

How curious that at this time of the debate we usually hear from two Labor senators, but they've decided to put only one Labor senator on this issue this afternoon. To be fair, Senator Ayres is a credible spokesperson, but he did not address the issue. Australians are right to ask: why has Prime Minister Albanese done nothing, despite all of the noise on aviation issues, all of the noise and concrete evidence about abuse of consumers and competition? Why has the government not chosen to do one simple thing, which is to ask the ACCC to continue what the ACCC has been doing for the last three years and continue in further reports on the state of competition? In the very last sentence of the ACCC's 12th report, invites the government, invites the government to continue with the monitoring regime. The ACCC says:

A further direction to the ACCC would provide continued transparency and scrutiny of the industry at a time when new and expanding airlines are still trying to establish themselves.

I would like, if the debate went longer, to talk about Qantas, Virgin, Qatar and Emirates, but that's not what's important. This is a tool that improves transparency for legislators, for consumers and for others that are interested. It's no accident that the only people that are opposed to extending the ACCC monitoring regime are—who? The airlines. Some airlines have a fair point about the administrative burden, but let's worry about that after the government takes a concrete step. This is a simple and easy act, and Prime Minister Albanese and the competition minister, Mr Leigh, the member for Fenner, are silent. We have had all this news and all this concern. We've had consumers being ripped off. We've had cancellations, and the government is silent. This could be done overnight. This could be done in the next 30 minutes. We don't know if the Treasurer, Mr Chalmers, or the competition minister, Mr Leigh, have a proposal on their desks at the moment, but if they do, let's act on it. Let's make it happen. It is such an easy thing to do to say to Australian consumers, 'We have heard your concern.'

It is wrong to talk about airline competition in this country in terms of just holidays. People travel interstate, intrastate and internationally. They stay connected with their families not only in good times but also in troubled times. And the diaspora of the Australian community, whether they are the Indians or others, deserve to be able to travel and reconnect and stay connected with their families at fair and reasonable prices. This is a simple thing to do.

Next week, when Senator McKenzie and I bring a bill to the parliament to do what the government will not do, Senator Cox, I hope we can count on your support—not for politics but for consumers and for promoting competition. Senator Roberts, I hope we can count on your support, because transparency is the thing that will keep Australian airlines honest. It will keep the chairmen of their boards honest, and it will keep their CEOs honest. And, more importantly, if we are seeing some positive developments—Rex and Bonza and others—they deserve to be supported. I dispute one of the comments in the ACCC report—they say there is a duopoly in the aviation industry. That is untrue. There is one very dominant market player, and they are called Qantas. There is another player called Virgin, but they are not equal. When people talk about duopolies, the assumption is that they are equal, but they are not equal: one operates with a market share up here, one operates with a market share down here, and the others are trying to get into the market.

We are on the cusp of something very exciting, because the ACCC report says that things are moving in the right direction. The government should act— (Time expired)