Pricing and profits under scrutiny at inquiry into Australia’s major supermarkets

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TRANSCRIPT
As the Director of Campaign and Communications at consumer advocacy group CHOICE, Rosie Thomas has noticed that supermarket prices in the Tiwi Islands, a remote Indigenous community in Northern Territory, can be much higher than in Sydney or Melbourne.
“There was a tin of tomato soup which would sell for $2.50 at major supermarkets in capital cities, and that’s priced $7.00 in the Tiwi Islands stores.”
The cost of transportation has been blamed for the price that’s almost tripled but still, Ms Thomas says the prices are set unreasonably high.
“If you spend $150 in the shop, you will have roughly $30 charge for freight on the barge – but those same goods may cost $400 in the shop.”
This is just one of the issues raised at the first hearing of the inquiry into supermarkets.
The inquiry, led by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, was introduced by the federal government back in January, after a series of reports on price gouging and shrinkflation in supermarkets.
The inquiry first heard from consumer advocacy groups, and will examine the pricing practices of the supermarkets, as well as issues of supply chains.
Martina Kingi is a senior financial counsellor at the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network.
She says it’s not a new issue to see supermarkets selling products at much higher prices in remote areas, where Indigenous communities often reside.
Ms Kingi says the long-time price gouging has had huge impacts on Indigenous people’s wellbeing.
“The whole point of having three meals a day pretty much doesn’t, it doesn’t happen in community. You know, if you can get two meals a day, you are doing pretty well. We all know the statistics of health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dying at a younger age, living as long as non-Indigenous people would, you know, diabetes, kidney diseases, all that kind of stuff, and diet is probably the most…diet and genetics, diet is mainly the reason for this.”
Ms Kingi also recalls her recent trip to Derby [[DER-bee]] in Western Australia, where she visited the local Woolworths store, only to find plenty of products didn’t have prices on them, while none of the hygiene products were on special.
She also says remote Indigenous communities lack a wide range of products, including fresh produce and milk.
“I don’t think I ever drank fresh milk in community, you go for powdered milk or UHT milk, that’s just one example. But yeah, fresh milk, to be honest, I don’t even think some of the community stores even sell fresh milk.”
In September, an interim report by the ACCC found many Australians have lost trust in supermarkets, and they are concerned about higher prices, and difficulties in distinguishing whether special promotions are real.
Mick Keogh is the ACCC’s deputy chair.
He says the inquiry is expected to address the real questions and scepticism around supermarket prices.
“The issues being considered in this inquiry are front of mind (in focus) and for many Australians right now, and this inquiry has been undertaken at a time when Australian households are facing significant cost of living pressures, including as a result of the rising cost of groceries.”
Supermarket brands Aldi, Metcash, Woolworths and Coles are yet to appear at the public hearing.