Parliamentary Report
as President. He has served on a number of Parliamentary committees including the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, and the Joint Stand- ing Committee on the Nation- al Capital and External Territo- ries. In particular, Senator Hogg made special mention of the close working relationship he had with the two previous Presidents. Senator Hogg commented that “they extend- ed a hand of friendship to me that broke down party barri- ers, not that there were any party barriers in this particular high office”.
The leader of the govern- ment in the Senate, Sen. the Hon. Chris Evans, stated that Senator Hogg was well qualified for the job “because you have a reputation as being a very honest operator, a per-
son of integrity, a person of mature judgement and a per- son who is balanced and con- scientious—all qualities that I think are important for the role of President”.
ECONOMICS COMMITTEE SCRUTINIZES RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA
On 8 September the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics conducted the second of its biannual public hearings with the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The statement on monetary policy agreed between the RBA gov- ernor and the Treasurer states that the governor will be avail- able to report on the conduct of monetary policy twice a year to the committee. The RBA has a target infla-
Third Reading ~ Australia
AVIATION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (2008 MEASURES NO. 1) ACT 2008
This Act enables regulations to be made to permit air safety officers to lawfully discharge firearms on board an aircraft in Australian territory or an Australian aircraft in foreign territory. The Minister for Infrastructure,
Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Hon. Anthony Albanese, MP, said that “Australia’s avia- tion security system has a number of layers to ensure the travelling public and the aviation industry are safe and able to respond quickly against threats of unlawful interference with a plane”. The Act seeks to enhance the air security officer programme which involves the placement of covert,armed security officers on selected domestic and international flights to protect the flight deck. The current regulations allow an air security officer to possess a firearm on an aircraft. but not to law- fully discharge a firearm in an aircraft without the risk of
prosecution.This was dealt with through periodic notices issued under the Civil Aviation Regula- tions which allow officers to discharge a firearm. The Minister noted that the
amending legislation will “provide a more appropriate and permanent platform to deal with the lawful discharge of firearms by air security officers”. The Shadow Minister for Trade,
Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Hon.Warren Truss, MP, noted that the opposition supports the amending legislation and the effort to improve its efficient functioning. Mr Truss was concerned about the future of the programme and sought assur- ances from the government about its funding and continuation, noting “that the recent budget failed to offer explic- it funding for the air security officer programme beyond this financial year, and I am informed that redundancy offers are currently being circulated to air security officers”.
TRADE PRACTICE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT ACT 2008
The Trade Practice Legislation seeks to protect small business by addressing predatory pricing. The Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, Hon. Chris Bowen, MP, said that the amendments focused on section 46 of the Trade Practice Act, which “pro- hibits unilateral anti-competitive con-
duct, most notably by prohibiting corpo- rations from misusing substantial market power to harm or eliminate competitors or competition generally”. In outlining the reasons for the amendment, he said “it is the govern- ment’s belief that a series of court deci- sions have undermined the operation of the act, section 46 in particular. Therefore, the legislation makes a num- ber of amendments to section 46 to improve and clarify the operation of that section in relation to anticompeti- tive unilateral conduct.
The amendments to section 46 will enhance its ability to address predatory
pricing.This refers to a particular type of unilateral anticompetitive conduct, whereby a firm deliberately sells at unsustainably low prices in an attempt to drive its competitors out of the market. Mr Bowen stated that “consistent with the findings of the Senate inquiry, a spe- cific prohibition against predatory pricing makes predatory pricing a clear target of section 46”. In order to contravene section 46 a corporation must “take advantage” of its substantial market power for a pre- scribed purpose. A Senate committee inquiry into the legislation considered... Continued next page...
The Parliamentarian 2008/Issue Four 371
tion rate of two to three per cent. During 2007 and early 2008 the RBA was raising the official cash rate in order to subdue growth and ultimately reduce the inflation rate. Notably, the RBA increased the official cash rate by 25 basis points in both February and March 2008. At the time, there was some concern from economic commentators that these rate hikes were unnec- essary. Six months later with the fallout from the U.S. sub- prime crisis becoming more evident, the RBA cut the offi- cial rate by 25 basis points in September. This was followed by a 100 basis point cut in October and a further 75 basis point cut in November. The official cash rate now stands at 5.25 per cent and more cuts are expected over
the next six months. The committee commented
in its report of 8 September hearing that “one of the key functions of the committee in scrutinizing the RBA is to hold it to account for its conduct of monetary policy and, in partic- ular, that its decisions are in the best interest of the econo- my”. The committee stated that “in line with this objective, the committee was intent on examining the need for the official rate increases of 25 basis points each that occurred in February and March 2008. There was con- cern that these rate rises may have been too much for the economy to tolerate”. The RBA defended its decision to raise rates on both these occasions based on the infor- mation that was available.
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