Proposed reforms to the nation's merger and acquisition rules and new settings to strengthen competition and productivity have been welcomed by farmers.
The new laws would include stronger powers for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to stop companies from making repeated under-the-radar acquisitions that have previously damaged competition, supply chain participants and consumers.
The competition watchdog this week admitted that many "significant" mergers had not previously appeared on its radar simply because they were not told they were happening.
In announcing the most significant shake-up of merger and acquisition laws in half a century, Treasurer Jim Chalmers pointed to analysis showing Australia's competitiveness has been in decline since the 2000s, while market concentration has nearly doubled since 2010.
He said the government intends to both simplify and quicken merger processes for nationally-significant mergers, while providing the regulator stronger powers to identify and scrutinise transactions that pose a risk to competition, consumers and the economy.
"Most mergers have genuine economic benefits - allowing businesses to achieve greater economies of scale and scope, helping them to access new resources, technology and expertise," he said.
"However, they can cause serious economic harm when firms are solely focused on squeezing out competitors to capture a larger percentage of the market."
National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said ensuring a competitive supply chain was critical to Australian agriculture.
"We've stated for a long time that mergers and acquisition reform was a central to improving the competitive landscape, and welcome the announcements as important and tangible actions," he said.
"This reform package appears to be a step in the right direction in balancing the need to have a review process that does not deter investment in the Australian economy, but similarly ensures a strong and appropriate framework is in place to protect Australian producers and consumers."
The reforms have been slated to begin from January 1, 2026, if passed through Parliament.
Meanwhile, NSW Farmers Business, Economics and Trade Committee chair John Lowe also welcomed the proposed reforms, but warned more work was needed to fix entrenched competition issues, including the introduction of divestiture powers.
"It's clear the Australian public wants to see fairer competition laws that protect farmers and families in the marketplace," he said.
"Greater scrutiny of mergers that could entrench market power is a good thing, but what about those that have gone before? These reforms cannot unscramble those eggs."
The NFF does not support divestiture policies.
Under the proposed reforms, companies will be required to notify the ACCC of mergers above a certain threshold, better define an acquisition that will entrench market power, and address creeping acquisitions mergers.
The ACCC would have 15 to 30 days to assess the proposed merger.
"Australians believe in a free and fair society, so there needs to be greater regulation where companies could reduce fairness by growing too big," Mr Lowe said.
"We see that in the dairy industry or the meat processing industry, where mergers have led to concentrated market power that disadvantages farmers and families on either end of the food supply chain."
