Today in Parliament, Abigail slammed the Coles and Woolworths duopoly for profiteering off soaring living costs, and called for bold action to break up these corporate giants and end their stranglehold on consumers.
Abigail said:
I give notice that on the next sitting day I will move:
- That this House notes that, at the Coles Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 12 November, Coles chairman James Graham on his $695,000 salary told shareholders it was “disappointing to see how cost-of-living issues have been politicised.”
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That this House further notes that this self pitying plea from the leadership of one half of the supermarket duopoly that dominates the Australian supermarket sector comes at a time when:
- there has been an explosion in living expenses for consumers and squeezing of domestic suppliers,
- a basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages has increased in cost to consumers by 24% over the five years to June 2024,
- Coles posted a $1.1bn net profit, while Woolworths posted a $1.71bn net profit, driven by an increase in food margins,
- the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched an investigation into the market power of the Coles and Woolworths duopoly, and
- the ACCC has separately lodged legal action in the Federal Court alleging Coles and Woolworth have been tricking shoppers by offering “illusionary” promotions on hundreds of grocery items.
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That this House affirms that:
- cost of living is absolutely a political issue, as the roles of politics and politicians is to respond to and advance the material conditions of the people we are elected to represent, and any attempts to portray it as otherwise implies an abdication of responsibility in political leadership, and
- big businesses unfairly wielding their market power to exploit consumers and to profit off their misery is a political issue and should be responded to in the strongest possible terms.
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That this House supports:
- calls from The Greens, and later the Coalition, for divestiture and break-up powers against massive businesses like the anti-competitive duopoly players Coles and Woolworths, and
- calls from The Greens to make price gouging illegal.
13 November 2024