Mary Doyle (Aston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our government's No. 1 priority is helping Australians with the cost of living and that is why we've announced that we're cracking down on supermarkets to help Australians get a fair price at the checkout. It was fantastic to invite the Prime Minister to Montano's Patisserie in Bayswater last week to talk to some members of my community about the announcement and about our government's crackdown on unfair supermarket pricing practices. One such practice is known as shrinkflation, where there's less product but the price is the same or sometimes higher. Cracking down on this type of dodgy practice will help people save more on their regular shopping trip.

At Montano's, the PM and I shared coffee and treats with some Aston locals: Katie, who's a single mum to her teenage daughter; and Xavier and Natalie, parents to three little girls. These parents shared their concerns about the cost of raising their kids with rising supermarket prices. The feedback from this chat and many others like it that I'm having lately around my community is that people are feeling the pinch at supermarket checkouts, and this is having a detrimental effect on many households throughout Aston.

The Albanese Labor government is committed to fighting shrinkflation in our supermarkets and the retail sector by strengthening the Unit Pricing Code to make it easier for Australians to make accurate and timely price comparisons. Our government is boosting funding to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the ACCC, so it can undertake a crackdown on misleading and deceptive pricing practices, and unconscionable conduct in the supermarket and retail sector. Funding of around $30 million will help the ACCC conduct more investigations and enforcement in the supermarket and retail sectors. This will enhance the regulator's ability to proactively monitor behaviour and investigate pricing practices where there are concerns about supermarkets and retailers falsely justifying higher prices.

We're going to make sure that all supermarkets put unit pricing on items to help shoppers know if what they're seeing on the ticket means they're getting a good deal or not. Unit pricing helps consumers spot good value for money by being able to see the price of products by their volume, weight or per unit so they aren't tricked by changed packaging hiding less product. We must continue to fight hard for all Australians because we know that under Peter Dutton and the coalition, Australians will work longer for less, whilst we want Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn. That's why I was proud to support the supermarket crackdown announcement which will help people like Katie, Xavier, Nat and their families in my community of Aston. I would also like to thank Nick and Helen Montano for their hospitality at their patisserie. They showed us, the Prime Minister, me and my constituents, such wonderful hospitality.