Bob Katter

KAP Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter welcomes the ACCC’s decision to take Coles and Woolworths to court over “alleged” misleading price drops. However, questions remain if this will lead to any real consumer relief.

After a decade of working to pass a Bill on reducing supermarket dominance, Mr Katter has had enough of the supermarket giants’ pricing practices, the Government’s inadequate response and the abhorrent exploitation of Australian farmers.

“For real relief at the till,” Mr Katter continued, “we need significant reform which would force mandatory and staged divestiture, a maximum mark-up of 100% on all produce, protection of farmers from onerous regulations, limited access to market via the vendor licencing system and significant powers for retribution, investigation and enforcement with severe penalties; and customs levy on all imported produce.

“These measures have been repeatedly brought to the attention of the ALP/LNP,” Mr Katter said.

In the past 12 months alone, Mr Katter has introduced a bill detailing reform, provided submissions to the Commonwealth and Queensland Government Supermarket Inquiries and Code of Conduct Inquiry, and repeatedly raised reform in Parliament through Questions with and without Notice, Suspension of Standing Orders and as a Matter of Importance.

“I’ve even gone so far as to dress as a pig in the corridors of Parliament with fellow MP Andrew Wilkie, to demonstrate the greed of these ‘Giants’ and the need for Government to act immediately.

“We did a survey a year or so ago on six grocery items that everyone uses every few days: eggs, sugar, milk, bananas, potatoes, avocados – the average mark-up was 170 per cent,” Mr Katter stated.

“Coles and Woolies have a responsibility to their shareholders to maximise profits. Their responsibility is not to provide cheap food – that’s the Government’s responsibility. And the ALP/LNP that governs Australia have had 15 inquiries in 15 years and each of them have been a complete joke.

“But the ultimate comment was that a LNP Senator on the inquiry committee turned up at a demonstration in Orange and started screaming abuse at the demonstrators protesting Woolworths and Coles. That would demonstrate where the ALP/LNP allegiance would lie. In the last 10-plus years, neither party has ever supported supermarket reform.

“Australian farmers are amongst the most poorly paid in the world. The number of farmers has gone from over 200,000 to well under 100,000. It’s enough to make you sick.

“Australian consumers pay some of the highest prices in the world for their food. In a country that prides itself on its ability to be a food bowl for the world, there should be no excuses for these high prices.

“I had the most furious fight with Government (past and present) over the ACCC. I have attacked them continuously over the issue of Woolworths and Coles. There is no country in the world where there is a concentration of market power as in Australia.

“But I emphasise, it is not Woolworths and Coles – their job, made easy with the power afforded to them, is to maximise their profits and push the farmers as low as they can.

“So, whilst I applaud the legal action here, what I now expect is for the Government to BREAK THEM UP!”

—ENDS—