Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The PM was recently caught out by a classic cost-of-living got-you question, this time at the ALP conference. The Prime Minister was asked the price of petrol, and he said $1.80. On that day it was $1.96. On the same day, Tasmanians were paying 20c more than that. It's not only petrol that's more expensive in rural and regional areas; it's pretty much everything. Australians living in the country can pay up to three times more for fresh food. Last week I paid six bucks for a small cauliflower, and right now it's in season. We're supposed to be the food bowl of the nation, down there. Go figure.

The average Australian family spends up to a third of their pay on fresh food. That's gone up seven per cent, but for Australians living in rural and regional areas prices have gone up by 40 per cent. We're a big country. Freight costs and the power of the big supermarkets to set prices are absolutely hammering families in rural and regional areas. Did you see how much profit those big supermarkets made last year? The mafia is how I like to refer to them, because that's what they are: price-gouging mafia. One billion bucks. Even though gate prices for lamb and beef are going down, Coles and Woolies' profits are going up because they keep charging more and more.

What's the red party doing over here? What are you doing about these big supermarkets going after our rural and regional families? Absolutely nothing. You've done absolutely nothing to reduce prices. You haven't bothered to put your foot down on their head. You've done absolutely nothing to go at those damn supermarkets—nothing at all. It's in your hands and you've done nothing. They're doing the same to our truckies. They're pushing them to the brink while increasing their profits.

Many Australians may not know that the consumer price is based on the price in the cities, not the rural and regional areas. People are moving out there because they can't afford to live in the cities. Go figure it out and start doing something for those people suffering in rural and regional areas. (Time expired)