PRIME MINISTER
FOR PRESS: PM. No. 42/ 1972.
TRADE PRACTICE AND OVERSEAS INVESTMENT
Statement by the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. William
McMahon,
For some months past, the Government has been considering
proposals for strengthening the restrictive trade practicos
legislation of the Commonwealth.
The issues involved have required careful and detailed
considerationas they profoundly affect the future development and
standards of efficiency of the Australian economy.
They also influence the most effective allocation of
resources with consequent long-term impact on cost and price inflation.
The Government has now decided that the Attorney-General
will make a comprehensive statement to Parliament during the
present Session probably during the next two sitting weeks.
The proposals have boon considered in the context of the
Government's attitude to restrictive trade practices and also its
belief in a free enterprise system under which citizens have as much
freedom as possible to participate in the production and
distribution of the nation's wealth.
The Prime Minister went on to say that it would be
remembered that the decision of the High Court in the Concrete
Pipes Case had clarified the Commonwealth's Constitutional powers
in the area of restrictive practices and the extent of its
legislative capacity in this area.
The Government recognises the impact that such legislation
can and will have on the future development of this country.
It has therefore decided that the appropriate course is
to make a statement to the Parliament for debate, as a means of
informing the public mind, and as a basis on which discussions with
industrial, commercial and other interests can take place before a
bill is prepared. / 2
During the present Session, a Treasury paper on
overseas investment in Australia will also be tabled by the
Treasurer. This paper will not put forward policy proposals but
will again provide the basis for discussion of a large range of
issues concerning the general field of overseas investment in
Australia and the desirability of controlling capital inflows in
the interests of the Australian people.
It, too, will assist the Government to arrive at
decisions in this area of private capital inflows.
CANBERRA, 3 May, 1972.