Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Assistant Treasurer representing the Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, Mr Emerson. Last week retail giants Coles and Woolworths both announced moves to end geographic discrepancies in the pricing of thousands of grocery items to bring them more into line with competitor, Aldi. These moves would achieve the same outcomes as the Blacktown amendment bill that I cosponsored with Senator Joyce, which is designed to outlaw geographic price discrimination. Minister Emerson claimed in a speech in August last year that the Blacktown amendment was, in effect, ‘a conspiracy against the poor’, which he claimed would not increase competition but instead drive up prices. Can the Assistant Treasurer confirm that the government now believes Coles and Woolworths are involved in a conspiracy against the poor with its new uniform pricing policy?