Page 2613 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 1994
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COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS MEETING
Ministerial Statement and Paper
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I seek leave of the Assembly to make a ministerial statement on the fourth meeting of the Council of Australian Governments, held on 19 August 1994.
Leave granted.
MS FOLLETT: Madam Speaker, having participated now in four meetings of COAG and its previous incarnations as Special Premiers Conferences, I can say that the meeting on 19 August 1994 was one of the more difficult to date. The major item concerned competition policy. Indeed, discussion was so protracted that the great majority of other issues on the agenda were not covered. I think all Assembly members will agree that higher levels of productivity are essential to Australia's continued growth and international competitiveness. An effective national and legal framework to underpin and enhance competitiveness in the economy promises to deliver substantial incentives for such productivity improvement. In the context of the Hilmer report, COAG gave attention to the following aspects of competition policy: The scope of the Trade Practices Act; principles and regulations relating to the operation of public monopolies, public and private sector competition and restrictions on competition; prices surveillance; and the appropriate bodies to oversee such matters as prices surveillance.
After considerable discussion, the council agreed that draft legislation would be prepared which amends and applies Part IV of the Trade Practices Act to all persons within State jurisdictions; establishes pricing and access arrangements; and establishes the Australian Competition Commission and the Australian Competition Council. The draft legislation will be released for public comment.
The council generally agreed to the application by individual jurisdictions of agreed principles on structural reform of public monopolies, competitive neutrality between the public and private sectors where they compete, and a program of review of regulations restricting competition. It is important to emphasise that, although there has been general agreement to these principles, the ACT Government is free to determine its own reform agenda. For instance, there will now be a need to review periodically the regulations applying to the taxi and milk industries, but decisions about the outcomes of these reviews will be a matter for the ACT Government. Naturally, it will wish to consult the industries concerned in conducting such reviews. Further, areas of government that provide services in direct competition with the private sector in the future will need to ensure that their pricing regimes are on an equal footing with the private sector.
It was agreed that all governments should share the benefits to economic growth and revenue from Hilmer and related reforms to which they have contributed. The Industry Commission will be asked to estimate the effect of reform, and this assessment will assist the council in determining at its February 1995 meeting the increase in government revenue that might be generated by these reforms and the share that would accrue to the States, Territories and local government. The next meeting will also aim to finalise the legislative package.
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