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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-07-22 Daily Xml
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Bills

Fair Trading (Repeal of Part 6A - Gift Cards) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Debate resumed.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (17:11): I rise to commend this bill to the house, but, perhaps, bearing in mind the contribution of the member for Kaurna, which I listened to carefully. I think that he gave a most thoughtful and succinct expression of support for the bill in terms—

Mr Picton: Peds did alright too.

Mr TEAGUE: Well, it goes without saying that universally we are so grateful to the member for Hammond for his constant and steadfast contribution to this place in so many ways. It is not on every occasion that I would single out the member for Kaurna in that way. In this case, it perhaps helps to illustrate that this bill in itself does not tell any particularly heroic story. The real substance of the story in these circumstances is, of course, the introduction and passage of the original bill in this place in the very early days of the new Marshall Liberal government two years ago.

The occasion now for this parliament to repeal part 6A and these measures comes about in circumstances where the commonwealth has caught up with South Australia. The commonwealth has seen the benefit and the good sense of the measures that were pioneered here in South Australia in the very early days of the new government. As the member for Kaurna has rightly observed, it is appropriate in these circumstances that we now repeal these state-based laws and embrace the national regime and all the benefits that will come to people across the country in having a consistent set of rules that will apply pursuant to the Australian Consumer Law.

We know the three key elements that will now require compliance, the first of which being the now famous three-year expiry with respect to these cards—the fulfilment of the election commitment that has been referred to now on a number of occasions in the course of this debate. Secondly is the requirement—very sensibly, if I may say—to display the expiry date on the card, and thirdly is the prohibition on post-supply fees, all of which are the subject of the provisions in the Australian Consumer Law together with even stronger penalties that will apply across the nation pursuant to those commonwealth provisions in the act and in the regulations.

I will not stay so very long reflecting on the passage of the bill to start with, but it brings back happy memories of my having listened to the contribution of the member for Finniss who, at the time the bill was going through on the first occasion, was approaching a significant birthday and contemplating how it might be of great benefit, were it routinely possible, to seek and obtain a gift card for the purchase of a tractor, something that the member Finniss was then, if not in need of, desiring.

Perhaps with a bit of a rush of blood to the head, I made a contribution that perhaps might not have made its way onto Hansard if the member for Finniss had not adverted to it, in offering to say, 'I'll get you a tractor for your 50th birthday.' Having made that offer, I felt compelled to do so and I am pleased to say I acquired a tractor from my good friends at FPAG at Strathalbyn in the days following my promise and then I had the honour to deliver that to the member for Finniss. It is a small digression, but the member for Finniss is now in possession of a fine tractor, albeit not with the help of a gift card. Traders may see that, were such a thing to be available for those sorts of categories of products in the future, they may have opened up a market for themselves.

It is not the only area in which South Australia is leading the way, of course. Another point of reflection for me in this context is that South Australia very much leads the way in the national context in our response to the COVID-19 public health emergency and the global pandemic that we have all been fighting over the last several months. I note that in many ways in my community there are some clear indications that people have gone ahead and perhaps bought gift cards from local traders over recent months and perhaps with more than the usual desire to support the trader.

I think they have perhaps had slightly less than the usual routine intention simply to redeem the gift card and perhaps with another idea in mind as well: that the gift card might serve as a means of keeping things moving through this period when it is difficult to attend in the store perhaps and it might be something that can be handed on with a view to the recipient then, when they have a chance, going in and even if they did redeem the card use it then as a means to go ahead and purchase something of greater value, having been introduced to the trader.

We know, and that is just one way to illustrate, the value of the provision of a gift card that rises above just the giving of cash as a gift. It can tell the recipient that someone has thought about them and the particular trader, and it can have the effect of supporting local businesses, as has been illustrated in the course of the global pandemic.

Bringing back those happy memories of the early days of the Marshall Liberal government and those immediate steps we have taken in terms of the agenda of the government to bring more jobs, lower costs and better services to the state, in this discrete way we have demonstrated that not only have we led the way in bringing better services to the state by virtue of this groundbreaking legislation but it has been followed and will now be seen for the benefit of all Australians pursuant to the commonwealth provisions in the Australian Consumer Law.

I commend the Attorney-General for leading the way in the first place to get to this proud moment when we can repeal these provisions at the state level. It is a proud moment for the state. I commend the bill to the house.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (17:21): I acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of members in supporting this and remind members of the three important things we will add to this legislation.

One is that, along with New South Wales, we were quick to make sure we provided consumer protection in this state. As a parliament, we were one of the early advocates for establishing consumer law in the country and consumer credit law in the 1970s. I am proud of that, and I think every South Australian should be. We need to make sure that where we can provide legislative protection to consumers that is precisely what we do. So we have done that. The commonwealth, along with other jurisdictions, gave some consideration to this.

The second thing I will say is that, in relation to the application of the bill, in the less than two years it has actually operated under state law I am advised there have not actually been any prosecutions of people or persons receiving a penalty, currently up to $5,000 and in some other cases $10,000. I hope that is a sign there is good compliance. Perhaps not everybody knows they can retrieve those Christmas and birthday gift cards that, at least in my household, languish in a drawer until the expiry date renders them useless, that they suddenly have some extra life. That is great, and it is pleasing to see.

I have not had any indication reported to me by the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Mr Soulio, that there has been any difficulty in the enforcement of the legislation generally. Hopefully that should not change under commonwealth law and, with the education program that was put out after the commencement of the act here, people have cottoned on.

Thirdly, I would like to say that we do need to tidy up this legislation. We cannot simply leave a state law extant on the basis that the commonwealth law covers the field and ours is rendered, in any utilitarian way, useless. We do need to tidy this up, otherwise we are leaving legislation that could cause confusion for the general population. With that, I thank members for their contributions in dealing with this matter.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (17:24): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.

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