Australia’s market concentration made the Covid-related shortages worse and will hamper the economy’s recovery and future growth unless addressed, Rod Sims, outgoing chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said.
In a wide-ranging National Press Club speech on Wednesday, Sims described the market-based economy as “fragile”, blasted governments for focussing on how much infrastructure can be sold for, and described electricity and gas markets as a “mess”, in part because carbon emissions do not carry a price.
“In my view, and the view of many others, the Australian economy suffers from high levels of market concentration to the detriment of consumers and productivity,” Sims said, according to a copy of his speech. “The most important tool to prevent this is our merger laws and they are not up to the task.”
