Craig Emerson to lead grocery price review

Anthony Albanese has appointed former trade minister Craig Emerson to lead a review of supermarket sector, saying Australians should be paying less at the checkout.

Former Labor trade minister Craig Emerson. Picture: Jane Dempster

Anthony Albanese says families should enjoy cheaper goods on supermarket shelves when farmgate prices have reduced, with Labor appointing former trade minister Craig Emerson to lead the 2023-24 review of the food and grocery code of conduct.

With Labor under pressure to address supermarket price gouging, the Prime Minister said supermarkets had a “duty to make sure they’re providing affordable options for all Australians, especially when they’re making savings on their own costs”.

“We’ve made looking after consumers a key priority over the past 18 months and we’ll keep looking at every option to make sure Australians aren’t paying more than they should or getting less than they deserve,” he said. “If there are further steps that are needed, then the government will not hesitate to take action.”

The government will consider a range of options to ensure businesses are passing on lower costs to consumers, as it seeks to address key cost-of-living issues for families in the new year.

These options include shifting from industry-led codes of conduct to government mandated requirements and a strengthening of consumer rights in sectors where market dominance has led to unfair pricing.

Nationals leader David Littleproud this week accused the government of “failing to act” to ensure farmers and customers were being treated fairly by supermarkets given the government had not appointed someone to scrutinise the food and grocery code of conduct nearly 100 days after a review was announced.

Dr Emerson’s appointment is aimed at ensuring the supermarket sector is working as it should and that key players such as Coles and Woolworths are adhering to the food and grocery code geared towards lifting standards of business behaviour.

On Wednesday, the government will release the review of the dispute resolution provisions included in part 5 of the food and grocery code of conduct with its response to the review.

The government will support all recommendations to amend the code and implement the changes as part of a broader suite of reforms after the conclusion of Dr Emerson’s review.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he was in regular contact with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to “ensure we have the right arrangements in place including when it comes to price monitoring.”

He will meet this week with ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb, and said the government expected all companies to treat Australian consumers fairly, including in the food and grocery sector.

Dr Chalmers said the government wanted to see more competition in the economy and had launched a competition review.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, who accused the major supermarkets on Sunday of paying farmers unfair prices, said the major retailers did not need to wait for the review to take action. “The ball is in the court of the big retailers,” he said. “They don’t have to wait until this review is ­finalised to drop their prices, they can do that right now to help Australian families doing it tough.”