Supermarket prices forcing Tasmanians to take extreme measures, Senate inquiry told

Young Tasmanians are resorting to extreme measures to combat the increasing cost of groceries, advocates say. What a national inquiry into supermarket prices heard.

Grassroots Action Network Amelia Cromb, left, and Amy Booth give evidence at the Senate Select Committee on Supermarket Prices in Hobart, with produce sourced from rubbing bins outside supermarkets. Picture: Chris Kidd

A Tasmanian Senator has told of the growing impact of rising grocery bills on the state’s most vulnerable residents, as a parliamentary inquiry into supermarket prices got underway in Hobart.

Speaking outside the hearing, committee member Sen Tammy Tyrrell said Tasmanians were more reliant on the major supermarkets than their mainland counterparts, but did not think that the stores always acted in their best interests.

“What we’ve heard at the supermarket inquiry in Hobart this morning is awful,” Senator Tyrrell said.

“Young Tasmanians are dumpster diving or shoplifting because the price of food at the supermarket is completely unaffordable. Some people can only afford meat if they steal it.”

Grocery prices senate hearing, Senator Tammy Tyrrell at the Grand Chancellor. Picture: Chris Kidd

Grassroots Action Network Tasmania organiser Amy Booth gave evidence to the committee that she had been sourcing food and other grocery items from supermarket rubbish bins for more than six years.

Ms Booth said that although she initially found the practice to be shocking and distressing, she now channelled the negative emotions to raise community awareness of the issue.

“You feel really helpless … and so angry that there are all these profits happening,” Ms Booth said.

“We are talking about food, we are talking about essential items that we need to survive.”

Ms Booth’s colleague, Owen Gregory, said that while statistics on supermarket pricing trends were difficult to obtain, there was little doubt recent rises were testing Tasmania’s social fabric.

“It just feels like you can only get half the things you used to be able to buy, for the same price, compared to five years ago,” Mr Gregory said.

Youth Network of Tasmania chief executive Tania Hunt, whose organisation represents Tasmanians aged 18-25, told the Committee that cost of living pressures meant life was currently much harder than it needed to be for many of the state’s younger residents.

Grocery prices senate hearing, Senators Nick McKim and Tammy Tyrrell at the Grand Chancellor. Picture: Chris Kidd

Ms Hunt said that a comprehensive survey of young people’s needs revealed that one of the demographic’s biggest hurdles was accessing affordable and nutritious fresh food.

“Some of them reported going without supermarket groceries altogether, because they are just too expensive, and they are relying on community sector organisations for food,” Ms Hunt said.

A Coles spokesperson said the supermarket worked hard to provide customers with affordable prices, all within an operating environment of high inflation and rising costs.

The supermarket said that it had established strong partnerships to ensure its food did not go to waste.

“Last financial year, we donated nearly 20,000 tonnes – or the equivalent of more than 39 million meals – to food rescue organisation SecondBite and hunger relief charity Foodbank,” the spokesperson said.

A Woolworths Group spokesperson said the company was focused on reducing food waste across its outlets, and that every one of its stores had a partnership with a local hunger relief organisation, which had cumulatively donated the equivalent of 28 million meals in the past year.

“We encourage people experiencing hardship to reach out to these community organisations,” the spokesperson said.

Originally published as Supermarket prices forcing Tasmanians to take extreme measures, Senate inquiry told