Page 1471 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 6 April 2005
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The Office of Fair Trading is justifiably proud of its achievements, but this pride does not distract it from the omnipresent challenges of protecting consumers and enhancing consumer confidence. The office knows that innovations and business practices such as e-commerce, m-commerce and expanding online activity will create new problems and issues. Local consumers will not be left unguarded in the new trading environment. The office already has productive relationships with national and interstate agencies that ensure it is fully informed and properly equipped and skilled to deal with the new issues as they emerge.
I know you will share my belief that the work of the 35 staff of the Office of Fair Trading warrants special mention. Many of its activities go largely unnoticed by the public, but it has successfully developed its services and activities to focus on those things that are proving useful in addressing consumer issues. At this point, Mr Speaker, I would say that, while they may go unnoticed, I am sure that if they were not around the Office of Fair Trading would be sorely missed and we would notice their lack of presence.
As I mentioned before, the work of the office covers everything from the licensing and registration of important and sensitive industries to providing consumers and traders with advice about their rights and obligations in pursuing the more difficult consumer and licensing issues through the use of its extensive enforcement powers. The strength of the office is not its success in any one of these areas; its strength comes from its conscientious and effective performance in all three of these tasks.
I thank the staff and management of the office for the input and work that it undertakes on behalf of the ACT community and I look forward to the office continuing to undertake its very important work for many more years. Mr Speaker, I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MR STEFANIAK (Ginninderra) (5.48): I note that Ms MacDonald’s motion calls on the Assembly to recognise the achievements of the office and that she has listed a number of achievements there, but I should put on record that there are a number of problems in relation to the office and the very difficult task it undertakes. I hope to offer a few possible solutions to some of them. From time to time, there do seem to be some significant problems, too. It may not be just the office; it may well be the legislation and other things the government can do to help not only consumers but also the office itself.
Ms MacDonald mentioned 20 pieces of legislation, the consumer advice provided and some good things that were done there. She talked about the Canberra show. I might mention one problem. It is something the Chief Minister’s office would be well aware of because one of his staff members was very helpful in relation to it. It goes back a couple of years. There was a problem with local engineering inventors who had invented some magnificent things which had been demonstrated at a lot of country shows around Canberra, but there were some incredibly bureaucratic problems with them doing it at our show. The problem did involve the office. I do not think that was satisfactorily resolved, despite the very best efforts of the Chief Minister’s office in terms of that matter. I think there were some overly bureaucratic issues in relation to that.
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