Thursday, 7 March 2024

 Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:58): What are you doing to our apples? We have just heard that Coles and Woolworths are marking up the price of apples by well over 100 per cent. It is reported that most growers are actually receiving between 50 and 60 cents a kilo, which is below the cost of production, and in fact I opened up my Woolies app this morning and saw that I would be paying almost $5 a kilo – outrageous – for the same apples. It is not even just apples. Apparently, some pears are also being completely jacked up in price. In a surprise to no-one, the major supermarkets Coles and Woolies are treating their customers and their suppliers with contempt. People are struggling right now to keep up with these rising prices of groceries. Rents are too high. Mortgages are too high. Groceries are way too high. We need to stop Coles and Woolies from ripping us off. We need our apples to be affordable. Remember, they do in fact keep the doctor away. Labor declared groceries an essential service. Regulate the supermarket industry. Stop this price gouging.