Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will support this motion because, as Senator Whish-Wilson said, it was something that was passed at the National Party conference on the weekend. Competition law is a very important part of our laws, because they allow and make sure that small businesses have the opportunities to compete and threaten big businesses. Without an effective competition law, big businesses will not be threatened but will be a protected species, and that will not be good for our market economy. The National Party has a strong and proud history of standing up for small business.

We were proud to support the government's root and branch review of the competition policy legislation and, as Senator Whish-Wilson has outlined, one outcome was a suggestion to reform and change section 46 of the act. While there are some issues around those changes, in broad terms the National Party does support these changes and we are happy to vote with Senator Whish-Wilson on this motion.