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

Australia is very, very well-served by its parliamentary democracy and those independent regulatory institutions that support the work of the parliament. Conscious of this, I rise this evening to add my voice to the concerns of colleagues and commentators alike regarding the government's proposed industrial relations legislation and its corrosive effect on some of the most important of these institutions. I do so particularly as the coalition spokesman for competition, noting at this early point the vital and independent role played by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which is currently under the very credible leadership of Ms Cass-Gottlieb. As Robert Gottliebsen observed in The Australian newspaper this morning, significant powers would be removed from Ms Cass-Gottlieb under this proposed legislation and, in Gottliebsen's words:

… handed it to a body that has powers to mastermind collusion and price fixing as part of dramatic changes proposed for the transport industry, …

Long and complex, the 784-page legislation is also full of concealed components.

When it comes to the ACCC and competition across our country, the greatest concern lies with the restoration of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, particularly with increased powers aimed at penalising independent truck drivers who are not beholden to the government's friends at the Transport Workers Union. You can be sure, of course, that it will go much further than that—deep into warehouses and, dare I say it, deep into airlines. Ms Cass-Gottlieb and the watchdog she leads police contracts and businesses in Australia, ensuring they are fair and free of collusion and other undue influences, and that they work for, not against, competition interests in Australia. Under the proposed industrial relations legislation, the ACCC regulation of commercial activities, as I've mentioned, will be replaced. Instead, these matters would become the ambit of bodies connected to the Fair Work Commission, the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal and, of course, the Transport Workers Union. Big business and unions, unchecked by the independent power of the ACCC, will be free to control process and strangle competition. The ACCC must be left in charge of this sector and allowed, in the words of a colleague of mine yesterday, to get on with its job.

As Robert Gottliebsen also pointed out in this morning's paper, the government's industrial relations legislation also threatens the position of the new governor of the Reserve Bank, Ms Michele Bullock. It can absolutely be expected that the proposed regulatory change will lift costs and, therefore, prices. And that, of course, is the root cause of inflation: rising costs and rising prices. Given the government's inability to manage inflation in this country, this leaves the new RBA governor and her colleagues, again, alone in their fight against higher inflation and its damaging effects on the economy. Remember that the RBA has said that Australians need to prepare for higher interest rates here for a much longer period of time because inflation is not being tackled seriously enough by the government.

Two prominent Australian leading, critical and independent institutions, the ACCC and the RBA, are under fresh attack by an unacceptably abrasive Albanese government, which has a reckless plan for industrial relations.

Senate adjourned at 17 : 59