Any moves on price gouging by Labor must include serious penalties and enforcement powers if it's going to make any difference to people's grocery bills, the Greens say.
"Our policy would hit Coles and Woolies with $50 million fines if they're caught price gouging, and Labor should commit to this at the very least," said Greens Economic Justice Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim.
"And we'd give courts the power to force the big supermarkets to actually lower their prices."
"Without serious penalties and strong enforcement powers, the supermarket duopoly will continue to act with impunity."
"If the fines are not large enough the supermarket corporations will simply absorb them into their massive profits and continue to price gouge their shoppers."
"That's why the Greens will put steel in Labor's spine in a minority government."
Key parts of the Greens' plan to end supermarket price gouging include:
- Fines of $50 million or more for corporations caught price gouging
- A Prices Commission to monitor price setting across the economy, staffed at Productivity Commission levels
- New price gouging laws and court-enforceable divestiture powers, enforced by the ACCC
- 20 new full-time staff at the ACCC to investigate gouging and act on referrals from the Prices Commission
"Big supermarkets have been price gouging for too long and it needs to end," McKim said.
"The Greens will use the next Parliament to act faster and with real bite to tackle price gouging."
