Senate inquiry backs push to break up supermarkets, calls for laws make price gouging illegal

Sydney Morning Herald05-07

Supermarket giants found to be overcharging customers could face criminal penalties if the government adopts the findings of a scathing new review.A Senate committee tasked to investigate supermarket ...

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NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp AustraliaThe probe also backed proposed reforms to force big companies to divest assets if their market power has been found to unfairly inflate prices and engage in anti-competitive behaviour.It went against the recommendations of an interim review by economist and former Labor minister Craig Emerson, which rejected suggestions for break-up powers and instead proposed supermarkets and suppliers follow a mandatory code of conduct backed by stiff penaltiesPrime Minister Anthony Albanese rubbished suggestions for divestiture laws in February, telling reporters that Australia was not “the old Soviet Union.”The Senate report noted that a majority of inquiry participants advised that divestiture powers would be an important “final step” in competition regulation, to be drawn upon when all else fails.“The committee was also told that having divestiture powers in the face of proven abuses of market power would have a ‘big stick’ impact of ensuring that supermarkets take regulation more seriously,” the report said.Camera IconWoolworths chief executive Brad Banducci and competitor Coles oppose divestiture laws. NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia“Divestiture would be a valuable option in the arsenal available to government to ensure that supermarket economic activity remains on an appropriately level playing field, to the benefit of all within the Australian economy.”The Greens have introduced a bill to parliament to create powers to force Coles and Woolworths to sell parts of their business.Both Woolworths and Coles have opposed the idea of break-up laws due to the risk of “unintended consequences” but have supported an overhaul of the grocery code of conduct.Camera IconFood prices rose 7.5 per cent in the 12 months to August 2023. Jeremy Piper/NCA NewsWire. Credit: News Corp AustraliaWoolworths, Coles and Aldi, along with the wholesaler Metcash, have a collective market share of 80 per cent of Australia’s grocery market.During public hearings, farmers’ groups alleged supermarkets were raking in excessive profits by marking down prices on in-store products and offering farmers less for the same item.It also heard evidence that some farmers were receiving prices for their produce from Coles and Woolworths that hadn’t changed in more than 10 years.The federal probe has been one of multiple inquiries investigating Australia’s grocery sector amid concerns over high grocery prices and rising cost-of-living.","kind":null,"is_publish_news":null,"is_publish_highlight":null,"is_publish_live":null,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":1},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.22.4","shortVersion":"4.22.4","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2433211420"}