The Nationals are standing up for Australian small businesses, farmers, and consumers by delivering stronger penalties for anti-competitive behaviour in the supermarket and hardware sectors.
Today, the Food and Grocery (Mandatory) Code of Conduct Bill 2024 is being introduced. The Private Members' Bill will restore fairness for consumers, families, suppliers, and farmers.
The plan will;
• Make the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct mandatory for supermarkets with an annual turnover of at least $5 billion.
• Have high penalties for breaches of the Code - the greater of $10 million; three times the value of the benefit obtained from a contravention; or, where the court can't determine the benefit from a contravention, 10 per cent of annual turnover.
• Enable infringement penalties of $2 million.
• Give the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) powers to undertake audits of supermarkets to ensure the supermarkets are compliant with the Code.
• Create a Supermarket Commissioner to act as a confidential avenue for farmers and suppliers to address the fear of retribution.
• Also introduce the Consumer Competition Amendment (Tougher Penalties for Supermarket and Hardware Businesses) Bill 2024 to establish sector-specific divestiture powers - in the hands of the ACCC and the courts, not politicians - as a last resort to address the behaviour of supermarkets and to put an end to instances of price-gouging. Divestiture powers will come with appropriate public interest safeguards.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud said he's committed to delivering competition policy which supports consumers and smaller businesses - not the big corporations and lobbyists.
"Competitive markets benefit everyone by ensuring lower prices, creating more employment opportunities, and fostering innovation," Mr Littleproud said.
"Labor has completely failed on competition policy, just like it has failed to tackle its homegrown inflation.
"Labor promised life would be easier under the Albanese government. Instead, families are suffering an entrenched recession.
"Since the election, food prices have gone up by 12 per cent. Families are being forced to make tough decisions about what they can and can't afford. This is the consequence of a Labor government that is out of its depth and out of touch."
Mr Littleproud said Labor's bad economic management has left Australia at the back of the pack in dealing with inflation.
"The latest quarterly CPI data shows inflation is still persistently high and homegrown.
"We have listened to the concerns of consumers and the agriculture sector, and we are taking action."
