The NZCTU supports a strengthening of the Commerce Act 1986. We have seen a general trend of market consolidation across multiple sectors of the New Zealand economy. Concentrated market power is evident across sectors such as banking, energy generation and supply, groceries, telecommunications, building materials, fuel retail, and some digital platforms.
This suggests that New Zealand’s competition policy settings are not functioning particularly well. Some of the options being considered in the consultation document could make a positive contribution to improving competition in New Zealand. However, changes to the Commerce Act alone will not be sufficient to reduce problematic concentrations of market power in some sectors. A broader policy response is also required, targeting the sector-specific roots of market concentration in key areas of the New Zealand economy.