Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

in reply—I thank those members who have spoken on this legislation: the member for Lyons, who has just finished; and the members for Isaacs, Blair, Lindsay, Werriwa and Robertson. I also thank the members for Paterson and Cook and the member for Cowper, the shadow minister for competition policy and consumer affairs. I take the opportunity to thank the coalition for the indication of support for this very important legislation. I further wish to take the opportunity to thank my predecessor in the role of Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, because it was the member for Prospect who conceived of these reforms, and he is at the table today as we bring these reforms to the attention of the House for a vote, quietly confident that it will enjoy bipartisan support. That is a tribute to the work and the consultation that was undertaken by the Minister for Human Services and the Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law—so thank you very much, Minister.

Since its introduction in 1995, the National Access Regime has proven to be an innovative and important piece of economic regulation. However, infrastructure owners and access seekers have argued that processes under the Access Regime are too lengthy and costly. Indeed, some owners of nationally significant infrastructure have expressed concern that the Access Regime is generating regulatory risks that may hinder investment in essential infrastructure, and we do not want that. The government acknowledges that delays and costs in decision making under the Access Regime may be having an adverse effect on the infrastructure investment that is needed to underpin economic growth and national productivity. As we have heard during this debate, the bill will improve regulatory certainty and streamline administrative processes under the National Access Regime. The bill will establish time limits for decision making about third-party access to infrastructure and limit reviews to information provided to the initial decision maker.

Importantly, the bill will provide greater regulatory certainty for potential investors in new infrastructure. Under the existing Access Regime, a private investor who is considering building an infrastructure facility cannot determine with certainty whether services to be provided by the proposed facility would be declarable. The bill provides for an upfront decision to be made by the designated minister. If the minister decides that a service provided by the proposed facility would not meet the test for declaration under the Access Regime, it cannot be declared for at least 20 years. The bill also improves regulatory certainty by enabling a service provider to submit to the ACCC an access undertaking which includes one or more terms that will apply for a certain period beyond the expiry date of the undertaking. When important variables are fixed, service providers and access seekers can more easily extrapolate the terms and conditions for access under future arrangements.

I would like to inform the House that this bill has been referred to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 9 March 2010. This will enable further public consultation on the proposed reforms. The government will consider the committee’s findings and recommendations carefully before the debate on the bill in the Senate.

In conclusion, this bill contains a number of modest but important measures to increase regulatory certainty and improve decision-making processes under the National Access Regime. These reforms will help to support the infrastructure investment needed to underpin economic growth and national productivity in Australia. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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