Retailer denies hiking its supermarket prices

The head of a Queensland government retailer that runs stores across remote indigenous communities, has denied it sells goods at inflated prices.

Community Enterprise Queensland chief executive Ian Copeland.

The head of a Queensland government retailer that runs a networks of stores and supermarkets across remote indigenous communities, has denied it sells goods at inflated prices.

Community Enterprise Queensland, a statutory body with a network of 28 convenience stores, supermarkets and fuel outlets across Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands, was accused of selling such staples as bread, coffee and chicken at massively-hiked prices.

The allegations, made to a federal parliamentary inquiry in submissions by the Torres Shire Council and Torres Strait ­Regional Authority, were reported in The Australian after CEQ’s annual report showed its executives had received bonuses in July after posting a $7m profit.

CEQ chief executive Ian Copeland, who is paid $439,000, said the submissions of the Torres Shire Council and Torres Strait Regional Authority — a federal government body — contained factually incorrect claims.

Mr Copeland said the shire council claim that “$55 jars of Moccona coffee” were being sold in CEQ stores was a “complete fiction” and not stocked in any of the stores. “In the Torres Shire Council’s submission, only 7 items identified of 20 are correctly referenced to the in-store IBIS pricing, the rest of its claims are factually incorrect,’’ he said in a statement.

“In the Torres Strait Regional Authority submission, there are further misleading and factually incorrect claims.

“CEQ has published our ­actual prices compared to the ­actual on-line major supermarket pricing, and the gap is significantly less that the TSC and TSRA submissions.’’

Torres Shire Council mayor Vonda Malone, who sits on the board that approved the bonuses — including $64,000 to Mr Copeland — on Thursday said she had been unaware of her council’s submission to the federal inquiry.

The bonuses has been criticised by state Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Craig Crawford as “inappropriate”.

In a letter to Ms Malone, Mr Crawford said: “ … I wish to ­express my concerns with these payments in the current climate noting that as minister I am unable to make a decision­ in this ­regard, and the decision is solely for the board of CEQ.

“Other government bodies includ­ing government-owned corp­orations have not proceeded with their executive bonus schemes for 2019-20 in light of the timing of the proposed payments and the extraordinary circumstances surrounding COVID-19.

In response, Ms Malone wrote to Mr Crawford saying: “In recognition for the efforts and commendable response by the organisation the Board approved a COVID-19 performance payment to all CEQ for the unprecedented stress and pressure that they were continuously working under during that time,’’ she said.

The bonuses had been paid under “established practice and contractual obligations”.