Gosling lobbies Aldi to open new Top End store

With inflation increasing again, a Territory MP has launched a campaign to get Aldi to the Top End. Read the reaction and vote in our exclusive retailers poll.

A federal politician is in talks to lure one of Australia’s most respected grocery brands to the Northern Territory.

Spurred on by data that proves Aldi is by far Australia’s cheapest grocery retailer, Solomon MP Luke Gosling has embarked on a push to get the outlet to open a branch in either Darwin or Palmerston.

“As part of their June 20 report Choice, Australia’s leading independent consumer group, found shopping at Aldi can save Australians approximately 25 per cent (about $17) on an average basket of 14 items when compared to buying comparable products at Coles and Woolworths,” Mr Gosling said.

Solomon MP Luke Gosling

“The savings speak for themselves, which is why I’m in early-stage conversations with Aldi around getting them up to the Top End.

“Increasing competition in our local supermarket sector will ensure a better, fairer deal for Territory families.”

Mr Gosling said he was not bothered by the precise Territory location as long as an Aldi store opened in either Darwin or Palmerston.

Federal Labor last week packaged the results of the Choice June quarter report which, shockingly, had Territory grocery prices below the national average.

The survey showed the national price for a basket of Woolworths groceries was $68.58 and for Coles it was $69.33.

This compared to the average price in the Territory which was $67.99 at Woolworths and $69.24 at Coles.

Tellingly, though, an average basket of goodies at Aldi was just $51.51 nationally, about $17 less than prices charged by Coles and Woolies.

With the annual inflation rate hitting 4 per cent last week, Territorians are keen for shopping options.

Mr Gosling hopes federal intervention will persuade the German-retailer of the enormous opportunities a discount chain like Aldi would have in the Northern Territory.

The NT News last approached the company a month ago about whether the retailer had any Territory plans, only to be told on background that it hadn’t.

Aldi signs would be welcome in Darwin or Palmerston. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

The NT News has sought an updated response from Aldi about its Territory intentions.

Traditionally, government efforts to attract retailers and other commercial brands to the Territory have been unsuccessful.

Most spectacular among those was the 2012 announcement by then chief minister Paul Henderson that Myer would open an outlet at Darwin’s Casuarina Square, only for them to squib it four years later.

Sentinel Property Group chief executive Warren Ebert also poured cold water on the idea of Myer opening in the NT after his company bought Casuarina Square in early 2022.

“If Myer wants to come it’s welcome, but it’s not realistic. That’s a different model,” Mr Ebert said.

“In 1985 in the United States, 15 cents in every retail dollar spent went to the department stores, now it’s three cents in every dollar,” he said.

“They just don’t work.”

Former chief minister Shane Stone also weighed in, saying Darwin was Myer’s largest market for catalogue sales, meaning there was no rush for the retailer to change its business model and open a bricks-and-mortar store.