Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I'll probably take that as a comment. I'm not sure there was a question in there. In the interest of time, I will just repeat what was said in the second reading speech. It said:

These laws help tackle price gouging at its source, outlawing:

That is what this bill will do by significantly increasing—doubling—the fines, the penalties, for breaches of the Australian consumer law and the Competition and Consumer Act. The government are being upfront and transparent about what we are doing here. We are bringing legislation to the chamber for senators to vote on. It doesn't get much cleaner and more transparent than that. I am hoping that the Senate will agree to pass these laws today. They are an important response to some of the effects that we've seen flow through to our economy, including on prices on fuel, since the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East, and I look forward to the Senate's support.