Australia'ssupermarket giants are using their dominance to extract huge profits fromfarmers and families, a report from Australia's competition watchdog has found.
Today the AustralianCompetition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its interim report into thenation's major supermarkets, uncovering a worsening pattern of "excessive"prices and market power misuse in the sector.
NSW Farmers PrincipalEconomist Samuel Miller said the findings had come as no surprise, with farmersand families having long suffered at the hands of the nation's supermarket duopoly.
"Prices arerock bottom at the farm gate, and sky high at the checkout - it's clear these supermarketsuperpowers are pushing up profits and leaving farmers and families to foot thebill," Mr Miller said.
"For years,farmers and families have suffered as our supermarket profits have soared, andthere has been a total lack of accountability or penalties for anyunconscionable behaviour impacting the supply chain to date.
"Farmers havebeen unable to speak out for fear of retribution, and families have been leftwith no choice but to hand over their hard-earned money to this monopoly - andthat must stop."
Mr Millersaid farmers had a short window to get perishable agricultural goods - such asfruits and vegetables - to consumers, and supermarkets had often used this factto pressure farmers into either taking lower prices or leaving food to rot.
As the ACCCcontinued its investigations, and with legal action underway on a 'fake discount'scandal, Mr Miller said tough penalties and expanded powers for the competitionwatchdog were vital to bring Australia's grocery giants to account.
"A mandatory,enforceable Food and Grocery Code is a positive step, and will go some of the wayto address this culture of unconscionable behaviour we're seeing withinAustralian supermarkets, but it's not the end of the road for competition reform,"Mr Miller said.
"These superpowersare not only reaping huge profits, but they are doing so at farmers andfamilies' expense.
"We need solutionsto increase price transparency, an economy-wide prohibition on unfair tradingpractices and new divestiture powers to bust apart duopolies in cases ofextreme bad behaviour, if we want to sort these superpowers for once and forall.
"We know exactlyhow our supermarkets have been treating us, and we can't let them keep pushingus up against the wall - or else more and more Aussie families simply won't beable to afford to put fresh food on the table every day."
