Emergency Conduct Exemptions for the ACCC During National Crises
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026
Senate
House of Representatives
Assent
Topics
competition law consumer protection crisis response economic stability emergency management market conduct oil code of conduct petroleum industry
Introduced by: The Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Dave Sharma LIB
“Competition law exists for very good reasons. It exists to protect consumers, it exists to prevent collusion between big businesses on price or supply or market behaviour that would damage competition and undermine the rights of consumers, it exists to prevent asymmetries of information that would disadvantage consumers.”
Leah Blyth LIB
“I think it’s fair to say that the coalition is not in the business of opposing sensible measures that are going to help manage things like a fuel crisis and protect households and small businesses. But what we’ve seen from this government is their urgent need for us to look at this bill, to not scrutinise it at all and to pass it in a hurry.”
Slade Brockman LIB
“First of all, I wish to congratulate Senator McDonald on her contribution, and I wish to echo many of the words she said. I hope not to speak for too long on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026. We’ll see how we go, but I do think there are some very important points to be made.”
Susan McDonald LNP
“I have listened with great interest to the arguments provided by the government with regard to these legislative changes, the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026, and with particular interest to the words of Senator Hume, who I think has made a terrific case for why these changes should have received proper scrutiny.”
Jane Hume LIB
“I rise to speak on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 that has been thrust upon this chamber in such unusual circumstances.”
Nick McKim GRN
“The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 empowers the ACCC to enable businesses to work together in exceptional circumstances—in a crisis, in other words—where businesses working together helps respond to the exceptional circumstances and serves the public interest.”
Matthew Canavan NAT
“These are extraordinary times, with the fuel crisis roiling the world, but they’re no more extraordinary than the times that we did face during COVID. We heard, in the previous contribution, the minister say, ’Oh, we shouldn’t be slaves to what has gone before.”
Tim Ayres ALP
“I table the explanatory memorandum relating to the bill and move: That this bill be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The speech read as follows— This Bill supports the Government’s response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East which is impacting fuel prices and affecting Australian businesses and consumers.”
Ross Cadell NAT
“Thank you, Deputy President. I will give you the Reader’s Digest version of what I was going to say. When I was speaking on gun laws, I mentioned that I didn’t blame the Greens for the way they voted because it is in their DNA to oppose them, but I was critical about Labor. But, on this, the boot is on the other foot.”
“This is not a matter of urgency; to the contrary, it’s a matter for considered scrutiny. Let me explain. The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 provides the ACCC with significant new powers. These powers create a new framework for actions that can be taken in exceptional circumstances such as the Iranian oil shock.”
Tyron Whitten PHON
“I rise to speak on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026. One Nation is not here to rubberstamp legislation for Labor. We’re here to represent the people who have been forgotten, ignored and taken for granted by the two major parties for far too long.”
“I’ll start by thanking the member for Forde for his contribution and especially for his shout-out to my home state, the great state of South Australia, particularly with respect to energy. In South Australia, we are leading the way in the transition to renewable energy, with 80 per cent of our energy needs being met on any given day by renewables. So South Australia is the state you want to be in.”
Rowan Holzberger ALP
“I rise in support of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026.”
Jo Briskey ALP
“I want to start not with a discussion on the legal framework but with a memory that I think many Australians can relate to. It’s early 2020. A virus that most of us had never heard of a few weeks earlier is spreading across the world. Australians are watching the news. They’re worried about their families; they’re worried about their jobs. Then they go to the supermarket and the shelves are empty.”
Helen Haines IND
“I rise to speak on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026. This legislation was introduced by the government in response to the serious global fuel security issues rising from the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran.”
“Australians understand that we are living through uncertain times. We are seeing instability overseas, disruptions to global markets and events far beyond our shores affecting prices right here at home.”
Kevin Hogan NAT
“I rise to speak on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 and move: That all words after ”That” be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: ”the bill be referred to the House Standing Committee on Economics for inquiry and report by 22 June 2026, with particular reference to whether: (1) the existing ACCC powers are genuinely inad…”
Dr Andrew Leigh ALP
“I present the revised explanatory memorandum to this bill and move: That this bill be now read a second time. Since the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran began on 28 February, our government has been responding to the biggest oil shock in history with a comprehensive plan to secure more fuel, strengthen supply chains, build resilience and take the sting out of prices.”