South Australian franchisor says new state franchising laws would just mean more red tape

Mark Langford, founder of Adelaide-based franchise Gametraders has hit out at a South Australian MP’s plan to introduce changes to the state’s franchising laws, claiming the sector is already floating in a “sea of red tape”.

The proposal, from South Australian Labor MP Tony Piccolo, would see a specific ‘good faith’ requirement introduced into the state’s franchising laws.

Piccolo’s private members bill will not be debated until at least next year after the State’s elections in late March.

He told SmartCompany late last week that he is confident of getting support for the bill from both sides of politics if he is re-elected, but says he hopes the Federal Government may reverse its decision not to amend the Franchising Code to include good faith in the meantime.

“My preference has always been for the Federal Government to take the lead on this,” Piccolo says.

However, one of the state’s biggest franchisors, Mark Langford, has raised questions about the level of support for Piccolo’s bill inside SA.

“I get so frustrated,” Langford says. “We’re already drowning in a sea of red tape and now he [Piccolo] wants to add more.”

“They think they can legislate to save people from themselves.”

Langford, like the Franchise Council, argues good faith is already implied by common law, so it is unnecessary to specifically legislate for this.

He’s also concerned at the prospect of having to produce two sets of disclosure documents. “They already run into the hundreds of pages.”

Langford shares the Franchise Council’s fear that SA could become a franchising backwater if national franchisors abandon the state.

“A lot of the interstate franchisors will simple say ‘too hard’ and concentrate on the bigger states.”