Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If it has been changed, I acknowledge that; I did not know it. I do know that no-one really acted upon it when it was in place. It did not work. There are shareholder interests too, of course. Tell the shareholders of Coles and Woolworths that the government is going to move in and force their company, the company they have invested in, to divest itself of part of its operations. Again, we have very significant competing interests.

We do have a problem, and I acknowledge that. I want to be part of the process of working towards some assistance for these industries. I am thankful that the parliamentary secretary was in the House when I arrived, because he was able to confirm that about 60 per cent of our agricultural output is exported. It is hard to argue that the impact of the monopsony is huge on our agricultural sector when the real market for our agricultural sector is our export markets, where the power of Coles and Woolworths is not relevant.

The best way that government can assist the agricultural sector more generally is of course in innovation, export assistance and opening new markets in areas where they are not necessarily subject to the monopsony power of the Coles and Woolworths of the world. I acknowledge that many of my agricultural producers, including wine producers, are doing it tough, but the answers are very hard to find.

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