Federal Labor will beef up price gouging protections in the country’s competition laws if it wins the May 3 election, in new efforts designed to stop supermarket giants from engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.

Weeks after a major report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found the regulator could do little to limit the dominance of Coles and Woolworths, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a re-elected Labor government would move to close a key gap in competition and consumer protections.