Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

(1) That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Supermarket Prices, be established to inquire into and report on the price setting practices and market power of major supermarkets, with particular reference to:

(a) the effect of market concentration and the exercise of corporate power on the price of food and groceries;

(b) the pattern of price setting between the two major supermarket chains;

(c) rising supermarket profits and the large increase in price of essential items;

(d) the prevalence of opportunistic pricing, price mark-ups and discounts that are not discounts;

(e) the contribution of home brand products to the concentration of corporate power;

(f) the use of technology and automation to extract cost-savings from consumers and employees;

(g) improvements to the regulatory framework to deliver lower prices for food and groceries;

(h) frameworks to protect suppliers when interacting with the major supermarkets;

(i) the role of multinational food companies in price inflation; and

(j) any other related matters.

(2) That the committee present its final report by 7 May 2024.

(3) That the committee consist of six senators, as follows:

(a) two nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate;

(b) two nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate;

(c) one nominated by the Leader of the Australian Greens in the Senate; and

(d) one nominated by other minority party or independent senators.

(4) That:

(a) participating members may be appointed to the committee on the nomination of the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate or any minority party or independent senator;

(b) participating members may participate in hearings of evidence and deliberations of the committee, and have all the rights of members of the committee, but may not vote on any questions before the committee;

(c) a participating member shall be taken to be a member of the committee for the purpose of forming a quorum of the committee if a majority of members of the committee is not present; and

(d) if a member of the committee is unable to attend a meeting of the committee, that member may in writing to the Chair appoint a participating member to act as a substitute member of the committee at that meeting. If the member is incapacitated or unavailable, a letter to the chair appointing a participating member to act as a substitute member of the committee may be signed on behalf of the member by the leader of the party or group on whose nomination the member was appointed to the committee.

(5) That the committee may proceed to the dispatch of business notwithstanding that all members have not been duly nominated and appointed and notwithstanding any vacancy.

(6) That the committee elect as chair a member nominated by the Leader of the Australian Greens in the Senate and, as deputy chair, a member nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

(7) That the deputy chair shall act as chair when the chair is absent from a meeting of the committee or the position of chair is temporarily vacant.

(8) That the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, may appoint another member of the committee to act as chair during the temporary absence of both the chair and deputy chair at a meeting of the committee.

(9) That, in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote.

(10) That the committee have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of three or more of its members, and to refer to any such subcommittee any of the matters which the committee is empowered to consider.

(11) That the committee and any subcommittee have power to send for and examine persons and documents, to move from place to place, to sit in public or in private, notwithstanding any prorogation of the Parliament or dissolution of the House of Representatives, and have leave to report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and such interim recommendations as it may deem fit.

(12) That the committee be provided with all necessary staff, facilities and resources and be empowered to appoint persons with specialist knowledge for the purposes of the committee with the approval of the President.

(13) That the committee be empowered to print from day to day such papers and evidence as may be ordered by it, and a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings as take place in public.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I indicate that the opposition will not be pursuing the amendment that we had proposed to move. Despite that, the coalition won't be opposing this motion. We don't think a Senate inquiry is in any way going to make up for the 18 months of inaction by the Labor government that have created this home-grown inflation and made this cost-of-living crisis a lot worse than it ever had to be. Rather than empower the ACCC to monitor these issues, Labor have let the inflation problem get much worse. Australia has the most entrenched inflation amongst advanced economies according to the magazine the Economist, and the best thing Labor can do to support the cost of living is to rein in spending to bring down inflation. Instead, Labor have spent more than $20,000 per household—that's taxpayers' money, not the government's money—on coming into government. We'll support this because we want to make sure we get to the bottom of these problems. It's a pity we couldn't move our amendment, but we'll talk about that another time.

Question agreed to.