The spectre of the profits of a far overcentralised retail market being funnelled overseas has arrived. Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, is planning a move into the Australian market by purchasing one of our two major retailers.

The upsetting issue is that Wal-Mart has stronger Trade Practices legislation in the US than it will have to deal with here to protect its competitors from being squashed - so good luck to the retailer left after it buys the other one.

The vast majority of our fuel, food, hotels and gambling are controlled by two organisations and the only redeeming feature of those organisations is that they are Australian.

The effect on their competition in small business has been devastating. Overcentralisation should not have gone this far in retail but, if it goes overseas, the buying decisions, i.e., Australian produce or imported produce, will be made by a company with a strong preference for the latter.

This, yet again, further highlights the need for strengthening of sections 46 and 50 of the Trade Practices Act.

To say that acquisitions and takeovers can simply be referred to the ACCC, if there are concerns, doesn’t cut the mustard. We must legislate provisions to prevent the overcentralisation of Australian markets. It is imperative for small business that we take the lead on this.

At the end of the day it’s as simple as this: Coles Myer and Woolworths have reported market values of $14 billion and $22 billion respectively. Do we really want these profits funnelled into the US or do we want them to remain in Australia?