Andrew Leigh

BARNABY WANTS THE PRICE OF MILK TO GO UP 

BARNABY JOYCE, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: If I go to a place and say ‘Well, I’m just going to start selling cases of beer at $15’ and say that’s the case. I know if I keep doing that, I’m going to send out every bottle shop in the district. People will say, well in the short-term didn’t they get a better price? Yeah, sure, and when you think they’ve all gone do you think they’re going to keep the price of that case of beer at $15? Of course not.

JOURNALIST: If I could change this term, what about dollar milk?

JOYCE: Well, this has been a discussion that’s been around for quite a while. I obviously believe that the proper price of milk is above a dollar. They say they are not selling it below cost. What I say is that in many instances, it’s a loss-leader that is bringing people into the shop and they pick up the money in buying other products. The way we had to deal with that in the Department of Agriculture is by starting to open markets into China and we sell that same litre of milk to China for up to $11.

The ‘effects test’ announced by the Abbott-Turnbull-Joyce Government is a dangerous economic policy that harms legitimate competition as evidenced by the Deputy Prime Minister’s very own words today.

The Deputy Prime Minister has literally said he believes consumers should be paying a “proper” price of milk somewhere between $1 and $11 a litre.

The ‘effects test’ will have a chilling effect on the competitive process. Businesses will fear that by engaging in competitive conduct, they will be taken to court.

It won’t just be about milk either.

THURSDAY, 17 MARCH 2016