Prime Minister Speaks Out against Price Gouging
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised tougher crackdowns on supermarket price gouging in Australia on day two of his federal election campaign. “Price gouging is when supermarkets are taking the piss of Australian consumers” – Anthony Albanese
He pledged to impose fines and put consumer laws in place similar to the European Union and United Kingdom to stop supermarket price gouging in Australia. They will look to the laws in these countries as well as 30 US states as potential models for future reforms.
Also pledged his government would implement the ACCC’s recommendation to improve transparency about pricing, price trends, promotions and loyalty”
Albanese said he would establish a taskforce to introduce a pricing scheme, which the ACCC would monitor. This taskforce would provide the government with a course of action based on its findings.
The ACCC didn’t call Coles and Woolworth’s a duopoly or say they were pricegouging, but suggest taking action on deceptive promotions and zoning laws, among other issues.
Labor promised to introduce tough consequences for any break of the Food and Grocery Code. In Canberra on Sunday, Albanaese said Labor would make price gouging illegal.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that Labor’s plan would create better deals for Australian consumers.
Both parties have advocated for divestiture, which is something the supermarkets do fear.
Opposition Responds
Coalition spokesperson James Paterson also claimed the opposition would make supermarket price gouging in Australia illegal. Divestiture laws would essentially be the punishment for such pricing tactics.
Nationals leader, David Littleproud, said the ACCC would be given power to conduct audits on these major supermarkets. The audits would be random. He claimed the only way to create a change is to introduce a deterrent.
Findings of the ACCC’s Report
This discussion over supermarket price gouging in Australia comes just after the ACCC’s report a few weeks ago, which defined stores like Coles, Woolworths and Aldi as some of the most profitable supermarkets in the world.
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