FCA Welcomes SA Opposition’s decision on Back-Door Franchising Bill

The Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) welcomes the decision of the South Australian Opposition’s stance against the back-door legislating tactics of the SA Small Business Minister, Tom Koutstantonis.

Steve Wright, FCA Executive Director, said the Small Business Commissioner Bill should now be subject to a though committee review in the Upper House.

According to Wright, the South Australian Labor was trying to introduce anti-franchising legislation under the cover of a Small Business Commissioner Bill, which was supposedly based on an adopted model from Victoria and followed in other Australian states.

“However, the truth is the Koutsantonis Bill goes much further,” says Wright.

“It introduces a de-facto franchising Act with very high penalties and potentially different rules to those, which apply in every other state. What’s more, there is no explanation of how this set of rules will be administered in relation to the existing national policing authority of the ACCC.”

Wright says the FCA are very pleased that the SA Opposition are standing up against the Koustantonis tactics. Many stakeholders, including law representative bodies, have been expressing their concerns with the Small Business Commissioner Bill.

“The FCA certainly has expressed such concerns, but Mr Koutsantonis does not seem to care. In fact, he claims the franchising sector actually wants this legislation – a claim it is impossible to verify because none of the responses to his draft legislation have been laid open to view,” says Wright.

“It is pretty audacious to claim widespread support for a Bill without even publishing the responses to it – or explaining why the Bill, which was put in Parliament, was so dramatically different to that which was put out for a very short consultation period.”

Wright says the controversy surrounding the Bill was a shame. The concept of a Small Business Commissioner, based on the Victorian model, was one which was regarded as positive by FCA and most other organisations.

“But the way Mr Koutsantonis has gone about this has certainly muddied the water. This bill must be now put up for thorough scrutiny in the Upper House, and that means a committee inquiry, which sources the most authoritative opinion available on a national and State basis – something which as not occurred previously.”