Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services. What steps is the Albanese Labor government taking to deliver real change and help Australians deal with the rising cost-of-living pressures at the supermarket checkout?

Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Adelaide for his question. He has been a champion throughout his time in this place for cost-of-living supports. He understands how important this is, particularly when it comes to households putting food on the table. From today, new rules are in place to prevent excessive pricing by supermarkets. I want to pay tribute to and acknowledge the work of the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, who has led much of the work when it comes to the development of these new rules.

The recent ACCC supermarkets inquiry found what many Australians already know. It found that Woolworths and Coles closely monitor each other's pricing and strategies and have limited incentive to compete vigorously on price. I have to say that Woolworths and Coles aren't the only Australian brands that closely monitor what their competition does. The three right-wing political parties opposite closely monitor each other, and they are closely converging on their product offering at the minute. While we can't stop all examples of brand copycats, we can do something about the big supermarkets and their price gouging.

That's why, from today, it will be illegal for large supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths to charge prices that are excessive when compared to the cost of supply plus a reasonable margin. These reforms come with big penalties if breached. Any retailers found to be in breach will face the greater of $10 million, three times the value of the benefit derived or 10 per cent of annual turnover during the preceding 12 months.

These are tough laws with big penalties which are in the best interests of consumers, and they form part of a broader package of reforms to strengthen protections for Australians at the supermarket checkout. We've increased the maximum penalties for breaches of Australian competition and consumer laws from $10 million in 2022 to $100 million per breach in 2026. That's a tenfold increase in the penalties that we inherited when we came to government. We've also made the food and grocery code mandatory, with strong protections for suppliers and significant penalties for supermarkets that breach the code—a measure those opposite voted against. Again acting in the interests of the status quo, they opposed those measures, which are in the interests of consumers. We've also funded CHOICE, to provide shoppers with more information on supermarket prices. CHOICE is obviously very important for Australian consumers in this and other areas.

Consumers can choose a Labor government that is delivering real change and protecting them at the supermarket checkout, or they can choose the three right-wing parties who oppose support for Australians at every step of the way and stand only for the status quo.