BRADBURY:
Today the ACCC has announced the outcome of some its early enforcement activity in relation to the carbon price and what we have seen is voluntary undertakings provided by two companies in relation to misleading statements and misleading claims being made about the carbon price. This is a timely reminder for all businesses that they should be very careful about increasing their prices and falsely attributing those price rises to the carbon price. But in these particular examples we have seen, the companies involved have relied upon misleading claims that have been the subject of political advertisements. This is a reminder for business that there are many false, misleading and reckless claims that are being made on the carbon price. In fact, Mr Abbott and the various opponents of the carbon price have been making many reckless and irresponsible claims in relation to the carbon price. In this case, a newspaper advertisement had claimed that the carbon price would increase electricity prices by up to 20 per cent in the first year. Clearly, the ACCC has found no evidence to suggest that that would be the case and this is a very strong reminder to businesses – do not allow yourself to be dragged into the cynical scare campaign Tony Abbott is running. We all know he's been making some reckless and irresponsible claims, but what we are now seeing is that Mr Abbott's reckless and irresponsible claims have the potential to get businesses in trouble with the law. In this case, relying on a claim that is often being made by Mr Abbott that electricity prices will go up by up to 20 per cent.
These particular businesses have replayed those claims in their marketing material and have now found that they have now fallen on the wrong side of the law.
Once again, it's a very timely reminder. Be very careful about the false claims Mr Abbott is making. If you're a business, don't repeat them, because by repeating his irresponsible and reckless claims you will get yourself into trouble with the law.
JOURNALIST:
Do you have any details of what the undertakings were for these two businesses, what they do?
BRADBURY:
These particular businesses have given voluntary undertakings that they will not make any future representations along the lines they have previously made and also the directors of their companies will undertake various training activities to make sure they properly understand their obligations in relation to competition and consumer laws.
JOURNALIST:
What were these two companies?
BRADBURY:
These companies were Polaris Solar was one company and ACT Renewables was the other. These are companies that are in the business of selling and installing solar panels and they had made claims that electricity prices would go up 20 per cent in the first year and that electricity prices had the potential of going up by 400 per cent over the coming years. False claims, claims that they relied upon because they saw these in political advertisements in the newspaper, but it's a reminder that just because someone makes a false and a reckless political allegation doesn't mean that should be the basis upon which businesses market their products to consumers because they could end up misleading their consumers.
JOURNALIST:
So does the Government believe that the people Tony Abbott is actually appealing to may fall victim because retailers are believing what he's saying?
BRADBURY:
These businesses have made the mistake of believing the outrageous, the reckless and the irresponsible claims that the likes of Tony Abbott have been making. Mr Abbott has been out there saying that electricity prices would rise by 20 per cent. In fact, he's even said on occasions by up to 30 per cent. This business has been basing their marketing material on a political advertisement they saw. They made the claim, a false claim, that electricity prices would go up 20 per cent as a result of the carbon price and now they've been brought to the attention of the ACCC and they've provided these voluntary undertakings.
JOURNALIST:
Given the commotion and the debate that's currently underway at the moment, do you believe that the ACCC will have to investigate further then into some other companies?
BRADBURY:
There's no doubt there are a range of matters being referred to the ACCC. There is of course a hotline that consumers can call the ACCC on, which is 1300 303 609. It's also timely to remind consumers that if you see a business jacking their prices up, challenge them, ask them what the reason behind that price increase is, and if they're jacking their prices up and falsely blaming the carbon price, pick up the phone and call the ACCC. It's only through the work of consumers and others referring these matters to the ACCC that the regulator has the opportunity to investigate these issues.