Queensland Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce has today moved a disallowance motion in the Senate against the Government’s Petroleum Retail Marketing Sites Amendment Regulations 2006 (No.1).
Senator Joyce has previously raised concerns regarding the impact of these regulatory changes on independents, branded operators and franchisees in the retail fuel market.
“These regulations completely disavow the principles set down by the sites and franchise acts of 1980, acts that still stand,” Senator Joyce said.
“If you believe in small business operators you have to allow a place for them to operate. It is no good saying that you must leave it up to the goodwill and trust of the independent's major competition, the major oil companies, to protect the commercial rights of independents, branded operators and franchisees.”
“The new regulations, removing the restrictions on the number of sites the major oil companies can operate from; do nothing to address the advantage that Coles and Woolworths have, in their association with Caltex and Shell, in circumventing the intent of the 1980 acts.
“In fact, they exacerbate the pressure on the independents, branded operators and franchisees by allowing the major oil companies to actively campaign for the soft centre of the market, currently protected by the sites and franchise acts.
“130,000 retail outlets represented by the MTAA unanimously support my position. That accounts to $113 billion in turnover annually, and 95% of these outlets have less than 5 employees. This means they are the quintessential small business.
“Between 1991 and 2004 in the United Kingdom, 8,380 service stations have gone out of business, with major supermarkets now selling over 30 per cent of the fuel sold in the UK, despite only operating from 10 per cent of the sites. In Australia, the major supermarkets sell well in excess of 50 per cent of the fuel, so our position is worse than that of the UK’s before we exacerbate it further by these changes”, Senator Joyce said.
“Under the reform processes being put forward, starting with the changes in these regulations, Australia runs the very real risk of mirroring what has occurred in the UK.
Unfortunately, the motion was put and lost.
Ends