Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to continue my comments on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Divestiture Powers) Bill 2024. Before I was, sadly, interrupted last time we were speaking on this, I was talking about examples of the impact that the current model with the supermarket duopoly is having on our farmers, who feed and clothe this nation. Watermelon farmers are selling their produce for only $1.50 each and then walking into the supermarket and seeing them being sold for $5 or $6. That's only gone up in the intervening period.

Since then we've seen the belated announcement by this government to make the voluntary Food and Grocery Code of Conduct mandatory. While we welcome that, when the Nationals first offered a hand of friendship to the government in December 2022 and said that we would work with the government to make that code of conduct mandatory, we were fobbed off by this government. They have belatedly come to the realisation that the supermarket duopoly are not acting in good faith against that voluntary code of conduct. They've belatedly come to the realisation that the code of conduct should be mandatory, and we welcome that.

I also want to make the point that it is high time the supermarkets treated farmers fairly. It is high time that supermarkets honoured their contracts with farmers. If they say to a farmer, 'We need 10,000 heads of lettuce,' and the farmers then plant enough to ensure that they can produce 10,000 heads of quality lettuce to the standards the supermarkets insist upon, then the supermarkets should buy 10,000 heads of lettuce, not turn around after harvest and say, 'I'm only taking 5,000,' and only pay for 5,000.

But, in doing this, this government is claiming that, through this mandatory code of conduct, it's going to fix the cost-of-living crisis. What a furphy! What it will do is help fix some of our supply chain issues, some of the issues between farmers and the supermarket duopoly. It will not fix the cost-of-living crisis, and it is high time this government took the cost-of-living crisis seriously and actually took action to address rising inflation, rising interest rates, higher electricity bills, higher insurance premiums and failing infrastructure in the regions. Start doing your job, government.

On this particular bill, the Nationals absolutely support divestment powers, but I have always said, from the outset of my comments on this bill, that we need to get it right. We can't rush. We can't have a kneejerk reaction. At this point in time, the legislation that the Greens have drafted is not getting it right.