Greens propose cost-of-living price caps on essential groceries milk, bread, cheese, nappies

The Greens have launched a bold cost-of-living proposal that would force supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles to cap prices on essential grocery items.

Prices of essential groceries would be capped under a new election promise by the Greens, who say the government has not done enough to rein in supermarket giants and provide real cost-of-living relief to Queenslanders.

In a move similar to grocery price capping systems implemented in Europe, an elected Greens party would enter agreements with Woolworths, Coles and Aldi to freeze prices on 30 categories of essential items including bread, milk, cheese, nappies and menstrual products across all Queensland stores.

Each supermarket chain would be required to provide at least one product in each of the categories, with the cap to be weighted on price per kilogram or litre.

The list would exclude all fresh produce due to seasonal price fluctuations.

Grocery price caps would be policed by the Queensland Competition Authority, which would be retitled the Fair Prices Authority and provided regulatory powers to take supermarkets that don’t adhered to the caps to court.

The Greens would enforce a price cap on essential items at the major grocery chains.

The Greens say the public will be given the chance to provide feedback on what items should be included the final list of capped goods and supermarkets wishing to increase prices beyond the cap would need to apply to the FPA to justify the mark-up based on things like increased production costs.

Greens MP Amy McMahon said with price tags for basic items like milk, break cheese and eggs skyrocketing more than 20 per cent over the last two years, the government’s supermarket inquiry had simply not gone far enough.

“Labor and the LNP have let big corporations like Coles and Woolies rip us off and pocket massive profits,” she said.

“Bringing down the cost of groceries is going to take a lot more than another inquiry.

“The government can and should directly intervene by capping grocery prices to bring down the cost of Queenslanders’ groceries.”

Greens MP Amy McMahon

The Greens would also pass laws to force Woolworths and Coles to sell stores in each Queensland region where they hold more than a 20 per cent market share, while also limiting them from holding on to any development sites for longer than four years.

It comes after the Coalition last week announced it would introduce divestiture laws into the supermarket sector if elected next year.

Under the supermarket policy shake-up, the Greens would also triple food aid funding from $3.3m to $10m per year, with another $10m going to charities like Foodbank, OzHarvest and SecondBite.