Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Assistant Treasurer. Will the minister update the House on government initiatives in relation to the cost of groceries for working families, and will the minister outline to the House the community response to date to the ACCC’s grocery price inquiry?

Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The cost of groceries and the cost of petrol both play a very significant role in the family budgets of Australians. Ensuring transparency and competition in these two important sectors have been important priorities for this government. That is why the government have introduced enhanced investigatory powers for the ACCC when it comes to petrol, and that is why we are putting in place Australia’s first ever petrol commissioner, who I am pleased to inform the House will commence on 31 March, now that the consultation process with the states prescribed by the law is complete.

On the issue of groceries, the House is well aware that the government has instituted an inquiry into grocery prices by the ACCC under part VIIA of the Trade Practices Act, an inquiry that will examine every part of the supply chain from the farm gate to the checkout counter. There has been a very significant community response to the government’s grocery price inquiry. This underlines the importance of this inquiry to the general community. One hundred and thirty-eight submissions were received by the ACCC on the closing date. They are from a wide range of groups, from groups as diverse as the Australian Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries; the Consumer Action Law Centre; the Australian National Retailers Association, who represent big retailers; the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union; the Cancer Council of New South Wales; Metcash; and the Australian Beef Association. Of course it would be inappropriate for me to comment on any particular submissions—that would pre-empt the results of the inquiry—but they do cover a wide range of topics and are very substantial, each one of them. The inquiry has also been welcomed by a wide range of groups, ranging from Choice to the National Farmers Federation, which shows there are concerns about the operation of the grocery sector from both ends of the supply chain, from the farm sector to the community sector and consumers.

In addition, the ACCC has also required information from principal parties in the industry, using its formal evidence-gathering powers under section 95ZK of the Trade Practices Act. It is important to note that these are powers the ACCC did not have until this inquiry was called. The inquiry was called in order to give the ACCC these powers to seek all relevant documents and all relevant information and evidence which go to the supply chain in the grocery industry. Using this information will allow the commission to commence its public hearing processes, where witnesses will be called upon to give more detailed answers. The Chairman of the ACCC will be outlining in coming days the exact location of the hearings. But, as I have reported to the House previously, there will be a hearing in every state and territory, and they will range across metropolitan and rural areas.

The people who will be called upon to give evidence will include senior executives from every significant participant in the grocery industry supply chain. The inquiry will enable the ACCC on 31 July this year to provide the government with advice on all aspects of the grocery market and policy recommendations where appropriate. This will be the most rigorous analysis of the Australian grocery industry which has been undertaken in recent years, certainly in the last decade. This is an inquiry which will put on the table the concerns of Australian working families and seniors. This is an inquiry which will get to the bottom of what is concerning Australian consumers. It takes more than a pathetic speech at the National Press Club—a speech devoid of substance, devoid of content, with a meaningless five-point plan—to represent the needs of Australian working families and seniors; it takes a government concerned about the needs of consumers, a government prepared to act, a government in the mould of the Rudd government.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.