Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It would be difficult to find anyone in Lesmurdie, Midland or Ellenbrook—anyone across the suburbs of Hasluck—who hasn't noticed the increase in the cost of the weekly grocery shop. There are many factors that feed into increased costs at the supermarket. They include fuel and other transport costs and supply issues. It is, however, a good time to ask questions about competition in the sector and whether the settings and regulation are right for the time. Unlike the member for Monash, this government is not defeatist, and we will investigate and look into where there may be unfair behaviour or price gouging occurring in the supermarket sector, because it affects every Australian, at a time when making ends meet is difficult.

The Albanese government has already acted to assist with the cost of living. We have delivered an array of cost-of-living measures, including electricity bill relief, making medicines cheaper by reducing the maximum cost of a prescription and allowing 60-day dispensing. We've done the largest investment in bulk-billing in Medicare's 40-year history, with bulk-billed urgent-care clinics opening up across the nation, including in Midland, in Hasluck; cheaper child care; expanded parental leave; fee-free TAFE; support for real wage increases; and, of course, now tax cuts for every working Australian.

The supermarket inquiry needs to be viewed in this light because it's another way that the government can take action to ensure there are no extra or unnecessary pressures on the household budget, because grocery retail is big business. In Australia our supermarket system is dominated by two large players, and questions over healthy competition need to be directed towards them in the first instance. When it comes to the range of supermarkets, Australian consumers basically do not have much choice when they purchase their daily necessities. Growers are also hostage to the lack of choice.

For each product we buy at the shops there is often a multitude of primary producers who labour to create the products that we eventually buy. Unfortunately, it is always going to be easier for a large supermarket to deal with a much smaller number of distributors, and easier still to deal with just one. This, however, can become a choke point insofar as competition goes. A sole distributor—even in one state or region—can wield much greater power than a single small grower or producer. An example of this sort of choke point has arisen recently in Hasluck, where local Swan Valley table grape growers are having difficulty moving product because of the actions of a distributor and the attitude of the large supermarket chains. I've referred the matter to the ACCC for investigation and hope for a speedy resolution of these immediate issues, but it is an example of why it is useful to have this inquiry and why we need to address competition issues in every sector from time to time. It is a moving feast. When we feel or suspect that our local growers—some of whom have carried on family businesses in our local areas for generations—are being exploited by big business, then we are compelled to investigate and to take action.

Relationships within the supermarket sector are governed in part by the Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes—Food and Grocery) Regulation 2015. Division 4 provides for certain notice periods and reasons to be provided when a retailer decides to delist a product. The reasons for these provisions are fairness and predictability. When there are grapes on the vine or a perishable product in cold storage or goods in transit and contracts precedent in place for products or their component ingredients, then proper periods of notice are required for forward planning. It must be made clear to retail giants and distributors that hold great market power in a particular region that the provisions of the code are not optional extras but are to be enforced strictly. We need to keep in mind who is actually creating the products in the first place.

The seriousness of the government's approach is exemplified by the fact that we are not sitting on our hands or relying on one measure. The ACCC is charged with a review of competition in the sector, and former government minister Dr Emerson is conducting an independent review into the efficacy of the code. The government is partnering with CHOICE, an independent source that I trust and that I know has the trust of many Australian consumers to help keep an eye on prices and price movements. Consumers and local growers only have power when they have choice. The government has a role to play in ensuring that competition is fair and rules are enforced. The Swan Valley growers and all of the primary producers in Hasluck and across this nation can know that I have their back in ensuring that the framework they work within is fair to all players and is not biased towards the big end of town.

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