Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer. Minister, when will the government be honouring its commitment to strengthen section 46 of the Trade Practices Act to protect small business from anticompetitive conduct?

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My recollection is that the government did give a commitment that, once the package of reforms to a variety of other matters concerning the Trade Practices Act were realised, which has now occurred, we could move on the question of section 46. I cannot tell you off the top of my head the Treasurer’s timetable for that reform. I will get some information during question time and, hopefully, report to you at three o’clock as to what, if any, information is available on the time line. But we did give that clear undertaking. As you know, it was conditional upon the passage of other measures, which have now been agreed by the parliament, and, therefore, I expect that we will be able to move fairly quickly. I will get as much information as I can by three o’clock.

Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Will the government’s amendments to section 46 include protections for small business against misuse of market power, including: recognition that companies have substantial power in a market even where they do not substantially control that market, antidumping provisions and protection against predatory pricing?

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The changes to section 46 were recommended by the Senate inquiry in 2003, and on 23 June 2004 the government tabled its response to that inquiry, endorsing changes to section 46 along the lines of those supported by government senators in their minority report at that stage. The changes to section 46 that the government accepted and said that it would move on include: providing guidance to courts in predatory-pricing cases; ensuring courts can consider both below-cost pricing and recruitment as factors in determining whether a corporation has misused its market power; ensuring the anticompetitive leveraging of market power from one market to another is prohibited by section 46; and ensuring that market power derived from contracts, arrangements or understandings can be taken into account in the assessment of a corporations market power. As I am advised, that remains the government’s clear position.