Liberal leader Peter Dutton has joined the Greens and the Nationals in his cynical and populist policy for break-up powers over Coles, Woolworths, Bunnings and other big retail chains if they are judged to have abused their market power to price gouge.

The political betrayal of Liberal values plays to the idea promoted by left-wing think tanks and the ACTU, but rejected by the Reserve Bank, that inflation is the fault of powerful big businesses, unfettered by competitive disciplines, that have exploited consumers to fatten their profit margins.