Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Cost of living

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:26): (625) My adjournment matter tonight is to the Premier, and the action that I seek is that he appoint a minister for fair prices to make sure that everyone can afford essential groceries. Just recently Woolworths sent out an email to their rewards card holders with a grocery inflation update. They would certainly know, I would think. This email started with a message from the CEO saying that they want to help you spend less. Really? If they really did, they could reduce some of their significant profit margins, I would think, and just charge fair prices for groceries. The email went on to explain grocery inflation to shoppers as if we do not know from bitter experience every single time we go to the shops to buy food.

They listed their extensive program of measures to help us spend less, and then they went completely off track to talk about how self-check-outs are not reducing staff numbers and how some customers are badly behaved. Anyway, thanks, Woolworths, for explaining to us just how dire things are currently in the supermarkets. And to be clear, it is definitely not just them. We know that there is a very strong duopoly that are both fighting very hard to keep their market share, and both of them are clearing massive, massive profits – billions of dollars a year – while everyday people are finding that they are getting less and less for their money and that the groceries are costing them more than ever. We need this state Labor government to step in and to take action. Too many people are cutting back on fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. They are skipping meals, they are facing empty cupboards or they are having to access food aid. The supermarkets can do better, and this state government needs to step in and make it happen.