By The Guardian (World News) | Created at 2024-09-30 15:05:19 | Updated at 2024-09-30 21:39:56
6 hours ago
The federal government has tasked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission with cracking down on misleading and deceptive pricing in supermarkets, tipping an extra $30m into the competition regulator after damning allegations against Coles and Woolworths.
The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will also work with state and territory counterparts to overhaul zoning and planning rules in a bid to stop potential land banking and help more grocery operators open new stores.
The Albanese government’s series of announcements on supermarket competition, after last week’s new food and grocery code and the ACCC’s price monitoring report, comes after the watchdog confirmed legal action against Coles and Woolworths over allegations they misled shoppers by offering “illusory” discounts on hundreds of common products.
On Tuesday the government will outline plans for the ACCC to “undertake a crackdown on misleading and deceptive pricing practices and unconscionable conduct in the supermarket and retail sector”, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The regulator will get “around” $30m, with the extra funding to go towards more investigations and enforcement in the supermarket and retail sectors.
“This will enhance the regulator’s ability to proactively monitor behaviour and investigate pricing practices where there are concerns about supermarkets and retailers falsely justifying higher prices,” Albanese’s office said.
“In addition to this crackdown, the Treasurer will work closely with states and territories through the Council on Federal Financial Relations to reform planning and zoning regulations, which will help boost competition in the supermarket sector by opening up more sites for new stores.”
Albanese added: “We don’t want to see ordinary Australians, families and pensioners being taken for a ride by the supermarkets, and we’re taking steps to make sure they get a fair go at the checkout.”
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The government claimed that current planning and zoning rules were acting as a barrier to competition, inhibiting business entry and expansion, and potentially allowing land banking – that is, big retailers buying prime spots of land without intention to develop them, in order to block competitors.
Last week Albanese appeared to downplay concerns about land banking by supermarkets, when he was asked on ABC Sydney radio about the issue and whether the government could force big supermarkets to “divest” sites they weren’t using.
“You’re telling me that an entire town, there’d only be one site where a supermarket could possibly be built?” Albanese replied.
“The truth is that we have a market-based economy in Australia. We want to continue that market-based economy, but we want proper regulation to hold the supermarkets to account.”
The prime minister claimed that if a Coles site was sold, “chances are Coles or another of the big giants would buy it”.
The government said the ACCC’s supermarkets inquiry would see the regulator hold public hearings with big supermarkets later in the year.
