Labor's proposed merger law reform is a missed opportunity to take on the market dominance of supermarket and airline corporations, and far from enough to address the real issue of corporate power in Australia, the Greens say.
"Labor has missed the chance to take the bold action needed: create the power to break up duopolies and oligopolies through forced divestiture," Greens Economic Justice Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
"Big corporations already hold too much power, and simply trying to prevent them from getting bigger won't fix the problem.
"What we need is to create competition by breaking up corporations when they misuse their market power."
"We need to give the courts and regulators the power to force the divestiture of corporations that have monopolised industries, including supermarkets, airlines and energy companies."
"Without these powers, we'll continue to see price gouging, rising costs of living, and Australians paying the price for unchecked corporate greed."
"We'll work our way through the detail of the proposed reforms, but we're going to keep fighting to make sure Labor does more than just fiddle at the margins.
