Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

When it comes to Coles and Woolworths and their price gouging, the time for talk is over. Now is the time to take action to stop them, and the Greens have introduced a bill to parliament to do that. We don't need to wait for another parent to come home from the shops without enough food for their family because they cannot afford out-of-control prices. We don't need to wait for another fruit and vegetable grower to sell their farm because they're being bullied by the big two supermarkets into selling their produce for a fraction of what it's worth. And we don't need to wait for Coles and Woolies to yet again record billions in profits, all while ripping off their workers, customers and farmers.

That's why the Greens have introduced a bill to give the consumer watchdog the power to break up the big supermarkets. Right now, Coles and Woolies control 65 per cent of the grocery market—the highest concentration in the world. Because they know we've got nowhere else to go, they're charging customers through the nose. If they can be forced to sell up shop if they abuse their power and rip us off, it will mean lower prices and more options for the rest of us. Labor should back this bill. The US and the UK have laws like this, and it's long past time that Australia did too. We can rein in the profiteering corporations, lower the cost of groceries and ensure everyone gets a better deal at the check-out, not just the profiteering CEOs. Right now customers don't have a choice, but Labor does. It's time to break up the supermarket duopoly.

If you want to know why people are completely fed up with politics, you need look no further than the US government's TikTok ban. People just want free health care and a good life, but instead they get senators who don't know how wi-fi works trying to ban a social media platform that they don't understand. What a joke, and what an embarrassment that the Labor and Liberal MPs are even humouring the idea here in Australia. Misinformation, security and privacy are issues for every social media platform. We should better regulate them all, not just those owned by a company that's a political problem for the United States. We should be consistent. My message to any government that's being called out online for the issues that people care about, like the invasion of Gaza, is this: TikTok is not the problem; it's the government. If your response to criticism isn't to listen and take action but instead to talk about taking away the megaphone, then you've got a lot more problems than you might think.

We are indebted to brave citizen journalists like Bisan, Motaz and Plestia, who've risked their lives to bring the reality of Gaza to our feeds. It was their truth-telling that spurred the world to action when governments wanted us to look away. We are better for the activists and content creators who use their platform to educate, connect, entertain and advocate for the change we need. We will always fight to protect you. Governments shouldn't ban TikTok; they should learn from it.

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