Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce has welcomed the ACCC’s decision to oppose Toll Holdings takeover bid for Patrick Corp.

“The ACCC’s view that Toll’s acquisition of Patrick Corporation would lead to a substantial lessening of competition, in key transport markets around Australia, has serious implications for all Australian consumers,” said Senator Joyce.

The results of Senator Joyce’s work on the Trade Practices Amendment Bill means greater competition will remain in the transport market. This, in turn, filters through to everything from the price of fuel to the price of food.

“The Toll acquisition demonstrates how well the current system used by the ACCC to review mergers is working,” said Senator Joyce.

“The ACCC decision yesterday, to block the merger, validates my decision to cross the floor and block Schedule 1 of the Trade Practices Amendment Bill late last year,” Senator Joyce said.

Senator Joyce believes concentrated markets deprive consumers and small business of the keen pricing and choice that goes with having a range of competitors vigorously competing.

“Had I not crossed the floor we would be dealing with the public benefits test administered by the Australian Competition Tribunal. Unfortunately this test puts far less emphasis on consumers and more on the test itself,” he said.

The five months taken by the ACCC to make this decision, a time frame dictated by the complexity of the merger proposal, is a time frame that Senator Joyce also sought to protect.