I'll begin with an area of agreement: supermarket competition is not working as it should, and Australian families are rightly concerned about grocery prices. The ACCC has established that. But the Greens' own research institute's solution is to spend $25 billion turning the Commonwealth into a supermarket operator. If the economics sound extraordinary, wait until you meet the authors. The Green Institute describes itself as a think tank. It also describes itself as the official research institute of the Australian Greens, devoted to building their political movement. Its executive director is Max Chandler-Mather, the former Greens MP defeated in Griffith at the last election. So let's be clear. This is not independent economic assessment; it's a Greens political campaign dressed up as economic research. What does this think tank produce? An eight-page report proposing $25 billion in public spending, 624 supermarkets and 13 distribution centres. That's more than $3 billion for every page of research. I've seen longer and more sophisticated shopping lists.

Then there's the inspiration: New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has promised five publicly owned supermarkets. Not one of them has actually opened yet, but Mr Chandler-Mather has seen that and decided Australia needs 624 of them. The original hasn't even opened, and we've already got the tribute act proposing a nationwide tour! Mamdani won an election. Mr Chandler-Mather lost his. Labor's Renee Coffey defeated him 61-39 in the two-party preferred, but apparently taxpayers can now fund the comeback.

Let's examine the economics for a moment. The Greens promise grocery bills that are 22 per cent lower and essentials that are 30 per cent cheaper. Here's the problem: Coles's latest supermarket operating profit margin is 5.7 per cent. Woolworths's Australian food margin is 5.5 per cent. For every $100 spent at the supermarket, roughly $5.50 is operating profit. Wipe out every cent of that profit, and you've saved yourself $5.50. But this so-called Greens plan promises to save $22. So where does the extra $16.50 come from—the farmers, the workers or the taxpayers? They claim they will eliminate marketing, executive salaries and unnecessary expenses. That would save you about 60c per $100 in sales. Their report even assumes a 25 per cent reduction in other store expenses by eliminating security guards and CCTV. Apparently, government ownership also abolishes shoplifting. But the real trick is having the Commonwealth pay for the land, buildings and distribution centres. The cost hasn't disappeared; it's simply been transferred from the supermarket checkout to the taxpayer. And their own financial forecasts reveal how fragile this scheme would be. By year five, they project almost $22 billion in revenue but a surplus of just $24 million. That's a margin of approximately one-tenth of one per cent. One bad assumption, and taxpayers are back on the hook.

Then there's the polling. The Greens proudly claim 84 per cent of Australians support trying publicly owned supermarkets. But look at the question; it was push polling at its finest. Respondents were first told about New York establishing publicly owned supermarkets to lower prices by cutting out profit. Then they were asked if they'd support trying that here. They weren't told about the $25 billion price tag or the compulsory acquisition of 200 existing supermarkets. Of course people support cheaper groceries. I'm surprised it wasn't 100 per cent. The challenge is delivering them, not writing them into polling questions.

Australia needs genuine supermarket competition. Labor is focused on making supermarkets Australians already have compete harder and charge fair prices. Since 1 July, excessive pricing by Coles and Woolworths has been illegal. We've made the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct mandatory. We've tackled Shrinkflation, because a smaller pay packet at the same price is no bargain. We've strengthened merger laws, so supermarket acquisitions face proper scrutiny. And we're giving the ACCC more resources to enforce the rules. The ACCC delivered 20 recommendations covering pricing transparency, supplier protections and barriers to new competitors. But Australians deserve serious economic policy, not a $25 billion political publicity exercise based on eight pages of wishful thinking. Mr Chandler-Mather can try to be Australia's Mamdani, but he can't make $5.50 in profit pay for $22 in discounts, and no amount of political cosplay can make the arithmetic work. I cannot support this ridiculous motion.