Martin Ferguson today in the Chamber when speaking on the Petroleum Retail Legislation RepealBill2006 claimed that Trade Practices Act reform had been stalled because of the Government.
This is untrue.
It was the ALP who voted as a block to defeat the first limb of the Government's Trade Practices Act reform agenda when they voted again the Trade Practices Legislation Amendment Bill (No 1) 2005 (the Dawson Bill) last year.
It is the ALP who have frustrated the benefits of this Bill being delivered - significant benefits to small business that include:
- an easier notification system for collective bargaining for small business, making this process simpler and less costly.
- increasing the powers of the ACCC toprovide the ACCC with the ability to search premises and seize evidence, when backed by a warrant.
- "triple damages"for contraventions of the TPA as a means of better deterring corporations or individuals from engaging in anti-competitive behaviourby increasing themaximum pecuniary penalty for corporationsto be the greater of $10million or three times the gain from the contravention or, where the gain cannot be readily ascertained, 10percent of the turnover of the body corporate and any related bodies corporate.
The ALP have stalled TPA reform. If they announced today that they wanted to support the Bill it would pass.
It would be of great concern if the benefits of the Dawson Bill, in particular the collective bargaining provisions, the strengthened powers of the ACCC and the increased penalties, were delayed further. Once the Dawson Bill has been passed, the Government can move forward with the next stage of its TPA reform - to strengthen the misuse of market power provisions and unconscionable conduct provisions of the TPA.
The ALP, with its continued opposition to Trade Practices Act reform, continue to demonstrate why they don’t deserve to be in Government.
CANBERRA
Contact: Tim Neve (02) 6277 2088