Emma D’Agostino:
The Assistant Minister for Competition, Andrew Leigh, defended the government.
Andrew Leigh:
When Labor came to office, we had this problem that the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct was a voluntary code. It was essentially toothless, without penalties. So, we set about getting it reviewed by Craig Emerson, the former competition Minister, and turning it into a mandatory code. The coalition under David Littleproud as Agriculture Minister, had decided to keep it voluntary. And indeed, when we brought our legislation for a mandatory Food and Grocery Code with multimillion dollar penalties to the parliament, it ended up that the Coalition voted against that.
I thought that was a real pity because it was an opportunity for bipartisanship on this important reform. Under Labor, the Food and Grocery Code now has multimillion dollar penalties. It has an anonymous complaints mechanism. It has the highest corporate penalties under any industry code and that’ll reset the relationship between supermarkets and farmers. But I understand that many farmers still feel under pressure and that’s certainly a legacy of the way in which this relationship was managed under the former coalition government.
D’Agostino:
David Littleproud doesn’t seem to think that these measures go far enough. Is that a fair comment?
Leigh:
When we brought this to the parliament last year, David Littleproud voted no. He had a chance to vote for farmers. Instead, he voted to keep the status quo. He voted for big supermarkets. What we have as part of this new code of conduct is penalties which are the greater of $10 million, 3 times the value of the benefit or 10 per cent of turnover. And for multi‑billion‑dollar firms that means massive penalties. These penalties were not supported by the Liberals, and they were not supported by the Nationals when they came into parliament.
It took a Labor government to put in place a new Food and Grocery Code of Conduct with mandatory penalties with the support of the crossbench and the Senate. That’s alongside our strengthening of the merger settings. It’s alongside what we’ve done to make sure that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gets notified of every merger in the supermarket sector. That’s alongside the work we’ve done to strengthen the unit pricing code and working with states and to reform planning and zoning. Now, there hasn’t been a government in my lifetime that’s done more to stand up for farmers against supermarkets than the Albanese government.
D’Agostino:
Littleproud was saying that the penalties that his government, if he was ever to be in a government, would put forward would be stronger. A flat penalty of $2 million if more egregious, $10 million, 5 per cent of the benefit that supermarkets might gain or divestiture. Is this an overreach of government in your opinion? And why weren’t these proposals supported?
Leigh:
David Littleproud is all hat and no cattle. He had the chance to do something when he was Agriculture Minister, and he did nothing. He deliberately decided to keep the code voluntary. He had a chance when Labor brought the bill into parliament to vote for it and he didn’t. He voted against it. David Littleproud is all woulda, coulda, shoulda. The fact is, the new mandatory code of conduct has penalties that are bigger than what you’re talking about and has penalties either the greater of $10 million, 3 times the benefit or 10 per cent of turnover for multi‑billion‑dollar firms.
We’re also providing more resources to the ACCC. We’re ensuring that consumers get a better deal at the checkout and farmers get a better deal from the supermarkets. We understand that supermarkets have a lot of power. That power can be wielded against consumers, it can be wielded against suppliers. And that’s why Labor has brought in place these important reforms. It really is some of the biggest competition reforms in my lifetime. We’re funding CHOICE to conduct quarterly price monitoring. We’re consulting on a general prohibition on unfair trade practises. Banning unfair contract terms, raising the penalties for anti‑competitive conduct. In one term the Albanese government has done far more to help farmers than the Coalition ever did in their 3 terms in office.
D’Agostino:
What is your understanding of how many farmers have decided that they will be leaving the industry? And what further protections does the government that you’re part of offer?
Leigh:
Look, farmers are certainly under pressure and that’s really the legacy of the way in which the system was set up by the Liberals and Nationals. We understand that things had to change and that’s why we put in place in place this mandatory Food and Grocery Code of Conduct over the objections of Liberals and Nationals. I began my speech to parliament when I introduced this legislation talking about a third‑generation cherry farmer who’d said he was getting out of the industry as a result of the power imbalance with supermarkets. We reset that power imbalance, recognising that it hadn’t been working for farmers.
Warwick Long:
That was the Minister for Competition in Andrew Leigh ending that report from Emma D’Agostino and the big supermarkets have been contacted for comment.