Queensland Competition Authority Amendment Bill 2018

Spoke in support of the bill while emphasising the hypocrisy of Labor introducing competition legislation for infrastructure it privatised, and cautioned that effective competition policy administration is critical for Queensland's most productive industries.

“While I do not oppose the bill, it is important that we are highly vigilant in how we administer and manage competition policy because it has a significant impact on the outcomes for some of our most productive industry sectors.”— 2018-03-22View Hansard

Moved the second reading as Treasurer, explaining the bill updates the access regime to restore the natural monopoly test following a High Court decision, improve QCA accountability, and align with the national access regime.

“The result of the entire package of changes in the bill will be improved processes under the QCA Act and greater regulatory certainty, improving investment certainty and bringing benefits to the Queensland economy.”— 2018-03-21View Hansard

Supported the bill as necessary to align Queensland's access regime with national standards and ensure positive investment incentives in significant infrastructure.

“Regulatory certainty is a key issue in regulated industries. The amended access criteria are intended to be in place for the authority's pre-expiry review of existing declarations under Queensland's access regime.”— 2018-03-22View Hansard

Confirmed the LNP would not oppose the bill but criticised Labor for selling the assets that necessitated the regime, and raised Aurizon's concerns about pricing principles.

“As per the committee's recommendation, the LNP will not be opposing the Queensland Competition Authority Amendment Bill 2018.”— 2018-03-21View Hansard

Supported the bill and the principle of third-party access regimes for monopoly infrastructure, while criticising Labor for privatising the assets that now require competition regulation.

“The last thing we want is to create a pricing determination on this significant infrastructure such that it creates an anomaly in the ability of businesses to have the money in their companies to maintain and improve that facility.”— 2018-03-22View Hansard

Spoke as committee chair, explaining the bill prevents inefficient duplication of monopoly infrastructure and noting the committee unanimously recommended passage without reservation.

“The committee recommended that the Queensland Competition Authority Amendment Bill 2018 be passed. We did so without any statement of reservation or any further recommendations.”— 2018-03-21View Hansard

Supported the bill as demonstrating the government's commitment to the resources industry and ensuring competitive access to critical infrastructure including ports in his electorate.

“The Queensland Competition Authority Amendment Bill 2018 being debated here proves the Palaszczuk government's commitment to the resources industry in Queensland.”— 2018-03-22View Hansard

Supported the bill as a committee member, noting it brings Queensland into line with the national access regime and addresses natural monopoly concerns, while acknowledging stakeholder concerns about regulatory uncertainty.

“The committee was unanimous in its support for the passing of this bill after due and proper consideration.”— 2018-03-21View Hansard

Supported the bill's objectives to align Queensland's access regime with national standards while criticising Labor for selling the infrastructure assets that necessitate such regulation.

“We would not have to worry about private companies taking advantage of monopoly infrastructure if the Labor Party had not sold off Queensland's assets.”— 2018-03-22View Hansard

Supported the bill, emphasising the importance of consistency between Queensland's and the national access regime before the QCA's upcoming pre-expiry review of declarations.

“It is imperative that there is consistency between Queensland's access regime and the national access regime.”— 2018-03-21View Hansard

Supported the bill as the LNP supports competition in all spheres, but raised concerns about six-month time frames on QCA decisions and the risk of large corporates gaming the system with overwhelming submissions.

“The LNP will be supporting this bill because we in the LNP support competition. We want to see more competition in all spheres.”— 2018-03-22View Hansard

Supported the bill, highlighting the significant economic impact of the Central Queensland coal network and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal on regional communities, while raising concerns about freight network certainty in Western Queensland.

“The rail transport services provided to the Aurizon network's Central Queensland coal network are important, as are the coal-handling services to the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. They are very important to the Queensland economy.”— 2018-03-21View Hansard

As Deputy Premier and Treasurer, spoke in reply defending the bill and emphasising that monopoly infrastructure requires regulation whether publicly or privately owned, and that Queensland is leading the way as the first state to align with national access regime changes.

“Whether it is public or whether it is private, it is monopolistic infrastructure and it needs to be run competitively and people need to have access to it.”— 2018-03-22View Hansard

Supported the bill, explaining the amendments restore the natural monopoly test changed by a 2012 High Court decision and strengthen QCA accountability for meeting decision timeframes.

“The amendment proposed in the bill will return the interpretation of this criterion back to its previous 'natural monopoly' test, rather than a test that considers whether it is profitable for anyone to develop another facility.”— 2018-03-21View Hansard