Page 4893 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 11 November 2009
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Mr Seselja: You make it up, make it up. Where is it explicitly, Jon?
MR STANHOPE: The Liberal Party motion says—
Mr Seselja: Tell us where it is explicitly. You have misled. You have misled again.
MR STANHOPE: Let me read it. Actually, if you would let me get this through, Mr Speaker, it would be welcome.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Seselja!
MR STANHOPE: Let me read the Liberal Party’s proposal in relation to supermarket competition: ensure a competitive process to allocate new supermarket sites. Ensure a competitive process—in other words, put it to the market. When you put it to the market, guess who buys them: Woolworths or Coles. Who buys them when you ensure a competitive, straight-to-the-market, put-them-to-auction process that Mr Seselja is advocating today? The Liberal Party’s position in this is to keep putting them to the market. Ensure a competitive process. Ensure, in other words, that only Coles or Woolies ever get to buy your major full-line supermarket sites. That is what the Liberal Party motion today is about.
The Greens, in their wisdom, as always, actually amend that by saying that it is as per the eligibility criteria in the review. They deal with the very issue at the heart of the Martin review. That is the whole point. Without the words that the Greens add, “as per the eligibility criteria” outlined in the review, Mr Seselja and the Liberals propose today in this motion that all full-line supermarket sites in the ACT in future be delivered through a competitive process. For “competitive process”, read the subtext, “to the highest bidder”.
Mr Seselja: You’re against competitive process now? You’re against any competitive process? So if you could have a limited tender with three, you’re against that?
MR STANHOPE: Mr Seselja, you cannot be that dumb not to know that the entire Martin review is about how you ensure other entrants into the market, having regard to the enormous buying power of Woolworths. That is what the entire report is about. Have you missed the point? He has missed the point. He moves today a motion which requires the government to ensure a competitive process is used to allocate new supermarket sites. What does that mean? That means only Coles and Woolies will buy them, because that is our experience. We know that to be the case. The Greens very politely have suggested to Mr Seselja—
Mr Seselja: You really should just read what is given to you by your department.
MR STANHOPE: Well, Mr Seselja, don’t you mean “as per the eligibility criteria set out in the review”, the entire point of the recommendations? Of course that is what the Martin review intended. If you do not have those words proposed by the Greens in this motion, Mr Seselja, if the motion were passed as presented by you, what you would be saying to the government is, “We do not accept the Martin review
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