"Competition in New Zealand business is increasing and consumers are benefiting," Commerce Commission Chairman Dr Alan Bollard said today.
Dr Bollard was speaking to a group of Auckland business people about the progress made by New Zealand businesses over the last decade.
"There has been real progress in many areas where consumers have not seen proper competition before - areas as diverse as LPG, natural gas utility contracts, air traffic control, meteorological services and Department of Conservation concessions," he said.
"Competition is not just what happens between businesses. It is also what happens between businesses and their customers. It involves customer choice influencing price, quality and service."
However, Dr Bollard warned that New Zealand cannot become complacent about progress towards more competition. There are still areas that do not enjoy full competition.
Sometimes this is because of natural monopolies - facilities that cannot be economically duplicated by competitors - including local networks for telecommunications, electricity and gas, the refining, coastal transport and storage facilities of the oil companies.
Other industries do not offer consumers all that they might because of regulation or restrictive ownership. This includes those activities of the Dairy Board that impinge on local sales of dairy products, water operations of local authorities, certain restrictive practices of lawyers, some of the registration and operation practices of medical specialists, and potentially some of the international operations of airlines.
Noting that these are his personal views, Dr Bollard emphasised that he was not implying such activities were or should be illegal: they are among the legal exceptions from the Commerce Act.
He also pointed out that governments and regulators do not by themselves create competition.
"Competition needs businesses and consumers with a competitive attitude," Dr Bollard said.
"To be competitive, businesses must stay alert and up to date with changes among their customers, their competitors and to technology.
"Consumers need to learn about their rights and responsibilities, and how to exercise them. New Zealand does not have a tradition of consumerism, and the work of organisations like the Consumers' Institute in developing consumerism is highly commendable."
Media contact: Communications Officer Vincent Cholewa
