Geoff Helisma |

In a media release, Labor’s candidate for Page, Patrick Deegan, rejected Page MP Kevin Hogan’s call for a Royal Commission into petrol prices and the big supermarkets, saying he was unsurprised that Mr Hogan’s “publicity stunt has fallen flat”.

“As a self-styled ‘cross-bencher’ Kevin Hogan no longer has any say inside the government, so the best he can do is make grand speeches to an empty room,” he said.

However, Mr Hogan told the Independent he is still active in the Nationals party room.

“What’s more, this Liberal-National Government … has basically cancelled parliament until the election,” Mr Deegan said.

“This means that Mr Hogan’s motion will probably never even be debated.

“The misuse of market power by supermarkets and petrol companies is a serious issue for our region.”

Mr Degan said “Mr Hogan and the Nationals” had failed to act on the issue, despite having had “almost six years to do something”.

“We need genuine action, not stunts, to protect consumers from the predatory behaviour of big corporations,” he said.

Instead of a Royal Commission, Mr Deegan advocated his own three-point plan, which he confirmed is not a current Labor policy: “tighten regulations on the behaviour of big corporations; provide more resources for the ACCC; and, restore the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (which the Nationals abolished) to protect standards in the transport supply chain”.

“If I am elected as the next Member for Page, my focus will always be on the community, not myself,” he said.